Anne Arundel County school ratings hold steady. Here are the highlights.

Three out of four Anne Arundel County schools saw no change in their Maryland School Report Card star ratings this year, mirroring standardized test results published over the summer that were largely flat.

There are some bright spots, however. Just over half of Anne Arundel County’s schools earned four or five stars, and more than 95% of county schools earned at least three stars. That’s compared to 89% of schools statewide that earned three, four or five stars.

State education officials released the annual scores on Thursday, allowing parents and community members to compare school performance within the district and across the state. Every school is assigned a rating on a scale of one to five stars based on test scores, surveys, attendance levels and graduation rates.

5-star schools

This year, 12 schools earned five stars, three fewer than last year, and the list of those schools shuffled. It includes:

• Arnold Elementary
• Benfield Elementary
• Chesapeake Science Point
• Crofton Woods Elementary
• Folger McKinsey Elementary
• Jones Elementary
• Severna Park Elementary
• Severna Park High
• Shipley’s Choice Elementary
• South Shore Elementary
• West Annapolis Elementary
• Windsor Farm Elementary

Several schools that earned five stars last year dropped to four, including Belvedere, Central, Davidsonville, Hillsmere and Millersville elementaries. Two new schools joined the five-star list — Shipley’s Choice Elementary and South Shore Elementary.

Shipley’s Choice got especially high marks for its well-rounded curriculum and a smaller share of students who are chronically absent. South Shore had strong growth in student test scores.

The two high schools on the five-star list, Severna Park and Chesapeake Science Point, are two of the highest-rated in the state, according to the indicators that factor into the ratings.

Chesapeake Science Point is a charter school run by the Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation, Maryland’s largest charter operator, according to its website, with eight campuses in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties.

Rising star schools

Overall, 13 schools’ star ratings went up and 16 went down. Severn River Middle, the district’s latest Maryland Blue Ribbon school, earned four stars this and last year.

Brooklyn Park Middle and Meade Heights Elementary climbed from two stars to three.

Nine others jumped from three stars to four. That list includes:

• Chesapeake Bay Middle
• Glen Burnie Park Elementary
• High Point Elementary
• Jessup Elementary
• Manor View Elementary
• Marley Elementary
• Oakwood Elementary
• Richard Henry Lee Elementary
• Southern High

How the district stacks up

Just five of Anne Arundel’s 121 rated schools, or 4%, earned one or two stars. That’s a better rate than the state as a whole, where 11% of schools earned one of the lowest ratings.

But other Baltimore-area districts had more success this year growing their stables of five-star schools.

Montgomery County doubled, and Howard County nearly doubled their number of schools with top ratings.

Maryland is currently redesigning its accountability system.

The framework that will replace star ratings is still under development, but it aims to increase transparency and emphasize student growth in evaluating school performance.