October 7, 2025 Staff & Community Update: BCPS Students Make Gains on State English Language Proficiency Assessments
BCPS Students Make Gains on State English Language Proficiency Assessments; BCPS Rate of Improvement Exceeds State
Today, the Maryland State Department of Education released data on the percentage of English Language Learner (ELL) students across the state who are on track to achieve English language proficiency. We are pleased to share that Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) had the highest one-year increase in English language proficiency among similarly sized school systems in Maryland. The BCPS rate of improvement in English language proficiency for 2024-2025 (1.4 percent) exceeds the statewide improvement percentage (0.8 percent).
The ACCESS for ELLs English language proficiency assessment is administered to students in grades Kâ12 who have been identified as Multilingual Learners (MLs). Nearly 13,000 ML BCPS students took the 2024-2025 assessment between January-February 2025. Of the students who took the ACCESS for ELLs test in 2023â2024 and 2024â2025, 71.6 percent increased their proficiency from the previous year. While most MLs increased their proficiency levels across all grade bands, elementary students reported increases at the highest rate, 83.7 percent. ACCESS for ELLs measures how well students understand and produce language necessary to access academic content presented in the classroom.
BCPS is committed to advancing academic progress for all students. Since 2023-2024, English Language Development (ELD) is one of the four academic priority areas that the school system has strategically redirected and invested significant resources in to bolster support and services for multilingual learners. This has included a new, high-quality standards-aligned curriculum for MLs, targeted coaching, professional development for staff, and revamping ELD instructional support.
BCPS is pleased with the progress students are making on this important assessment. With the continued investment in critical supports and services, BCPS ML students will thrive and reach their highest potential.
Baltimore County Public Schools