MSDE says 73 percent of FCPS schools receive four or five-star ratings.
Frederick, Md (KM) Report cards are out, and Frederick County Public Schools made the grade. The Maryland State Department of Education says 73 percent of the local schools earned four or five stars in their report cards for 2023 and 2024. On average, MSDE says 41 percent of schools in Maryland receive four or five stars.
Dr, Frank Vetter, Director of Assessment, Data Reporting and Strategic Improvement with FCPS, says these schools were judged on such criteria as academic performance in reading, math and science, academic growth, English language proficiency, chronic absenteeism, school climate and well-rounded curriculum.
He also says these evaluations are requirements under federal law. “The Elementary and Secondary Schools Act, which is federal legislation, requires that states to evaluate schools annually. and Maryland puts out reports where they do that. Schools can earn anywhere from one to five stars,” Dr. Vetter says.
One of the areas where FCPS has worked to make improvements is chronic absenteeism. “School teams meet weekly to take a look at absentee lists, and plan interventions and supports for students who are not coming school on a consistent basis. And I would say that’s primarily one of the reasons why our schools continue to improve in the report card results,” says Dr. Vetter.
He says some of those interventions could include connecting students and their families with outside services. “Is there illness in the home? Is there an issue related to poverty? Are there students or family members in need of emotional support or mental health services? We do what we can to try to connect families and students to what they need to engage them and get them coming to school each day,” Dr. Vetter says.
Students are considered chronically absent if they miss ten percent or more of the school year. An academic year runs 180 days.
With these results in hand, Dr. Vetter says FCPS will continue to make improvements. “We’re a continuous improvement school system So we are constantly looking at our results,” he says.
And that can include improving the students’ experiences in the classroom. “We, in the past couple of years, have purchased some new instructional programs in math and reading. And so continuing to build on the capacity of teachers to use those resources to deepen the learning of students,” he says.
By Kevin McManus