Worcester County leads Maryland in college readiness

If you go by the test, Worcester County students are the most college-ready in all of Maryland. The test is the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness College and Careers or PARCC assessment.

Last year, PARCC replaced Maryland’s high school and middle school assessments. It was a change with plenty of pushback from teachers and administrators.

However, faced with no real choice Dr. John Quinn said Worcester County teachers embraced the change.

“It’s dedicated teachers and our district is noted for having smaller class sizes so we have teachers that can really help personalize instruction for students,” Quinn said.

It appears to be working. at least compared to other counties.

The state average for college readiness in Algebra One, was 31 percent. In Worcester County 57 percent of their students qualify as “college-ready”.

Quinn credits dedicated teachers, but also the big picture strategy of Superintendent Dr. Jerry Wilson. focusing on academic success and college career readiness.

Quinn said they push their students to lay out personal plans for grades eight through their freshman year in college because the school system wants to know what they plan to do the year after they leave.

“It’s that planning aspect we think is an important part because if students know that you’re working to help them fulfill a plan that they have for themselves, they’re much more likely to engage and go the extra mile to try to meet some of these rigorous standards,” Quinn said.

Quinn said that although it’s nice to know that they lead the state in PARCC results, that they’re not naive that more work needs to be done.

Quinn said for Worcester County, the goal is to have 100 percent of their kids college ready.