Maryland's Howard County Students Excel With Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Treasures

Students in Grades 3-5 in Maryland's Howard County Public Schools have made substantial progress in reading performance on the Maryland School Assessment. The district uses Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Treasures, a reading and language arts program for Grades K-6 that features explicit, systematic instruction coupled with time-honored classics, contemporary nonfiction, and rich literature.

Overall, students district-wide increased their reading scores by three percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the Maryland School Assessment records. The county's English Language Learners (ELLs) showed the most significant progress, increasing by nearly 12 percent.

                Percentage of Students in Grades 3-5 District-wide
                     Scoring Proficient or Advanced in Reading
                                    Source: MSA

  Students                                       2007              2008
  All                                              90                93
  African American                                 80                85
  Asian                                            95                96
  Caucasian                                        94                96
  Hispanic                                         78                85
  English Language Learners                        69                78

"It's truly rewarding to learn about successes like that of Howard County," said Susan Rivers, Director of Marketing for Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Reading and Language Arts. "The program's goal is to help children build a lifelong love of reading and this kind of progress shows we're accomplishing that."

Stephanie Milligan is the Reading Support Teacher at Talbott Springs Elementary School, which has one of largest ELL populations in the county. She said Treasures played a big role in her students' success. "The differentiated instruction in Treasures is great for all students, especially for ELLs," Milligan explained. "The leveled readers allow teachers to teach the same vocabulary in a whole group setting and also in small groups. That way kids are entrenched in vocabulary no matter their reading level."

           Percentage of Talbott Springs Elementary School Students
            In Grades 3-5 Scoring Proficient or Advanced in Reading
                                 Source: MSA

  Students                                       2007              2008
  All                                              83                84
  English Language Learners                        54                75

Treasures' correlation to Maryland state standards is another reason students are improving their MSA scores, Milligan says. "We did a curriculum match, and Treasures aligns substantially with MSDE standards. We are able to fulfill our curriculum requirements with Treasures without major supplements like we've had to do in the past with other programs."

Milligan said the program's combination of nonfiction and fiction is also important for her students. "We find our students have difficulty with background knowledge and vocabulary, but Treasures helps us build those two components much better than what we used in the past," she said. "Our students are interested in reading nonfiction. A lot of the stories are theme-based, so the nonfiction literature gives students the background they need to understand fiction. For example, the nonfiction piece might be about animals and their habitats, while the fiction piece might be about a badger family. When they read the fiction piece, they better understand the nuances and background."

Nationally recognized for its research-based approach, visual appeal, and technology, Treasures is one of the most widely adopted curriculum in the nation.

  For more information about Treasures, please visit: www.macmillanmh.com.

  About Howard County Public Schools

Howard County, Maryland, is a suburban community of more than 274,000 situated along the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The school system consistently ranks as Maryland's top school district based on student performance on the MSA. Serving more than 48,000 students, the district's population is 53 percent Caucasian, 20 percent African American, 16 percent Asian, 6 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent multi-cultural. Eleven percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and 3 percent are classified as ELL.

About Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill is part of McGraw-Hill School Solutions Group (MHSSG).

The group combines Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, which focuses on Grades PreK-6, and Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, which serves Grades 6-12. MHSSG is the only major educational publishing business to provide a comprehensive approach to the development of print and digital instructional materials from pre-kindergarten through high school. Additional information is available at http://www.macmillanmh.com/.

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is a leading global provider of print and digital instructional, assessment and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 60 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.

  Contact: Tom Stanton                         Yvonne Pentz
           McGraw-Hill Education               Paul Werth Associates
           (212) 904-3214                      (614) 224-8114
           tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com         ypentz@paulwerth.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

SOURCE: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

CONTACT: Tom Stanton of McGraw-Hill Education, +1-212-904-3214,
tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com; or Yvonne Pentz of Paul Werth Associates,
+1-614-224-8114, ypentz@paulwerth.com

Web Site: http://www.macmillanmh.com/
http://www.mheducation.com/