• Attendance Rates
• Discipline Rates
• Numbers of 504 students
• Numbers of FARMS students
• Special Education student enrollment
• Quarterly Assessments scores - English
• Quarterly Assessments scores - Mathematics
• PARCC Scores - Mathematics (Elementary grades 3, 4, 5)
• PARCC Scores - English/Language Arts (Elementary grades 3, 4, 5)

Historically, our students have performed significantly above the county average on the quarterly language arts assessments. However, over the past several years, the performance of Crofton Meadows Elementary students on the quarterly reading assessments has been decreasing.  While our professional development plan and school improvement plan include opportunities for building teacher capacity in these areas, work still needs to be done to ensure that all teachers are using effective practices and that data is used to change classroom instruction. 

The Office of Elementary Reading provides quarterly assessments to the faculty before the quarter begins. These assessments can help measure student mastery of curriculum standards in reading and writing and can be used as a predictive tool for student performance on state assessments. Guidance from the Reading Office suggests that teachers back-map the assessments to ensure all the content is taught prior to the administration of the assessment. Teachers are also encouraged to develop common formative assessments to guide and inform their instruction throughout the quarter. We believe that the effective use of back-mapping and common formative assessment are critical in improving student performance on the quarterly assessments.[Indicators 5, 6, 10]

Over the past five years, Crofton Meadows students have shown little growth in their performance on the state assessments in English Language Arts (currently PARCC).

	2014	2018
Grade 3	84%	75%
Grade 4	68%	67%
Grade 5	59%	60%

% of students who met or exceeded grade-level expectations on the PARCC ELA assessment

The faculty and staff of Crofton Meadows recognize the importance of foundational literacy skills in strengthening student performance on this assessment. Currently, our students in grades K-3 are demonstrating the most success as measured by Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading assessment.  

Kindergarten	85%
Grade 1	80%
Grade 2	82%
Grade 3	88%
Grade 4	62%
Grade 5	66%

% of students reading on or above grade level

 

While there is a decline in the number of students reading on grade level in grades 4 and 5, reading intervention programs are in place to support the students in need of improvement. Our approach has been and will continue to be implementing guided reading with fidelity and focusing on teachers addressing specific needs by conferring individually with each student. We also recognize that teacher capacity in guided reading is critical to this effort. Therefore, professional development, practice, and feedback in this area are integral parts of our school improvement plan. [Indicators 5, 6, 10]

• Socio-Economic Issues (employment, income levels, housing costs)
• Businesses/Job Market
• Families in Crisis (mental, physical emotional, financial)

Crofton is considered an established community that is on the higher end of the socio-economic spectrum in Anne Arundel County. The cost of living, including housing costs, throughout the area is high and continues to increase due to the proximity of Crofton to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. The construction of a new state-of-the-art high school and increased retail and residential development in our area have also contributed to making Crofton a desirable, but expensive place to live. 

However, the individual communities that make up the greater Crofton are are quite different.   Relative to the surrounding area schools, Crofton Meadows Elementary has a higher percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced meals (FARMS): 16% compared to 4-8%. Many of our students’ parents work multiple jobs to be able to afford to live in this area, and an increasing number of our families live with relatives to make ends meet. These pressures contribute to family stress, which frequently affects students and their ability to succeed in school. An increasing number of students report feeling anxious or depressed. 

Our efforts to build relationships with the students and their families are fundamental to addressing these concerns. As a staff, we are beginning to incorporate social-emotional learning strategies into the curriculum. Since this is a new initiative, it will take time to build the teachers’ capacity to deliver these lessons effectively. Our school counselor provides services to students and families in need, and, when she cannot, she provides them with information about services outside the school system. However, outside counseling services and supports are expensive, and many of our families cannot afford them. We also work closely with the Pupil Personnel Worker to support

• Socio-economic community issues (employment, income levels, housing costs)
• Significant changes over time in student/community demographics