School officials said test results improved thanks to more time spent in math and language/reading classes. Math and reading/language arts classes were increased to 90 minutes each in the 1999-2000 school year. Previously, those classes were about an hour long.
Also, teachers have been holding weekly meetings to discuss reading, and new books are being used.
"We can't overemphasize the hard work of the students and teachers," Director of Secondary Education Boyd J. Michael III said.
According to figures released by the school system, the average county eighth-grader posted early 11th-grade scores in math and reading, and a mid-10th grade score in language.
As sixth-graders two years ago, those county students took the sixth-grade version of the CTBS. On that test, the average students had sixth-grade level scores in reading and language and an early seventh-grade level score in math, according to school system figures.
"This is huge. This is really really big for us," Michael said.
"This is way beyond what I expected," Interim Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Morgan said.
"This is something to celebrate," board member Doris Nipps said.
Board member Mary Wilfong said the test results show the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) "guided us to better teaching."
All of the county eighth-graders, about 1,480 students, took the CTBS on May 1 and 2. County eighth-graders took the CTBS this year instead of the MSPAP.
The eighth-graders could have taken no standardized test this year, but Morgan said she wanted to gauge the students' academic growth since sixth grade.
