MCPS named as "Gold Medal" school system for 10th time in national survey

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) received a gold medal from "Expansion Management" magazine for the tenth consecutive year for its attractiveness to the business community, according to the MCPS Bulletin.

MCPS earned a gold medal for being rated in the top 17 percent of the 2,800 nationwide school systems with more than 3,300 students. MCPS was one of five school systems in Maryland to win a gold medal, according to the Bulletin.

The evaluation rated the system for being attractive to businesses looking to expand, with determining characteristics such as having well-prepared high-school graduates and quality schools for employees to enroll their children in. This was determined by factors such as SAT scores, graduation rates, per-pupil expenditure, student-teacher ratios, teacher salaries and socioeconomic factors.

MCPS was also the highest-rated school system in Maryland in a poll of voters for the Baltimore Sun conducted by Potomac Incorporated, according to the MCPS web site. The system received a 3.05 out of four points, equivalent to a B, among voters. This score was up from 2.74 in 2003. The statewide average was 2.46.

MCPS also had higher rates of students taking and passing AP exams than the national average. Thirty-nine percent of the class of 2004 scored a three or higher on at least one AP exam during their time in high school. A score of three out of five is considered a pass on an AP exam, according to the MCPS Bulletin.

The MCPS rate was almost three times the national average of 13 percent of high-school graduates scoring at least one three or higher. Additionally, MCPS has recently experienced rapid growth in the number of black and Hispanic students taking AP exams and had rates higher than the national average for all ethnic groups.

According to the Bulletin, the high number of passing AP scores in Montgomery County contributed significantly to Maryland having the second greatest number of seniors scoring at least one three on an AP exam throughout high school. Only the state of New York had more.