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Maryland public school students made modest gains in math and English language arts, but significant gaps remain between demographic groups, the latest test results show.
The , which students took this spring, showed nearly 51% of students were proficient in language arts, an increase from about 48% in the 2023-24 school year.
The results mark the third straight year of language arts increases, gains that are being attributed in part to the 鈥渟cience of reading鈥� curriculum that State Superintendent Carey Wright brought with her from Mississippi, where test scores rose significantly while she was superintendent there.
Fourth grade was the only level that saw their overall scores go down, form 49.3% in the 2023-24 school year to 48.4% in 20240-25, according to results reviewed Tuesday by the state Board of Education.
Math scores also rose, but they remained far behind language arts:听About 26.5% of students were proficient in math, versus 24% in the previous school year.
The board approved a revision of math standards, and parts of a math policy will be implemented this year, which should help improve student outcomes, said Tenette Smith, chief academic officer with the state Department of Education.
鈥淲e are seeing progress, but there鈥檚 still important work鈥� to be done, Smith said.
The data are from tests taken by students in the spring in grades three through eight in math and language arts. Language arts is also assessed in 10th grade. Student proficiency is also measured in specific math courses and in science for students in fifth and eighth grades.
At least two board members expressed concerns about the gaps between听student groups, specifically Black and Latino students.
The biggest gap, according to the exam results, came in eighth grade science. .听
About 62% of Asian students were proficient in that subject last school year, compared to 53% in the 2023-24 school year. White student proficiency rose from 40% to nearly 49% in the same period. While other student groups also made progress, they still trailed:
- Latino students went from 11.7% proficiency in 2023-24 to 17.1% last school year;
- Black students rose from 12.3% in 2023-24 to 17% last school year.
Board member Alverne 鈥淐het鈥� Chesterfield asked why the same 鈥渟et of folks still underperforming.鈥� That was echoed by board member Nick Greer, who noted that the same concern was expressed last year and who asked what strategies will be looked at听in the near future听to help close those achievement gaps.
With the exception of language arts, the proficiency level for students with disabilities and multilingual students didn鈥檛 reach double digits.
鈥淲hat we need to be doing as a state and as superintendents and principals 鈥� is identifying those specific children that were still struggling regardless what subgroup they鈥檙e in,鈥� said Wright, the state superintendent,听during a briefing with reporters Tuesday afternoon. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to look at individual children, because each child鈥檚 needs are very individual, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e expecting schools to do.鈥�
School systems vary
Worcester County, which recorded the second-highest proficiency level in math at 39.3% in 2023-24 school year, moved into first place last year with a rate of 47.7%. Despite a drop from 69.4% two years ago, Worcester County still had the highest English proficiency last year, at 68.5%. 听
One reason for that jurisdiction being the best in Maryland comes from consistent leadership, said state board President Joshua Michael. Worcester County school board member Jon Andes also was the school system鈥檚 superintendent from 1996 to 2012.
鈥淭his is a school district over decades that has had very few superintendents,鈥� Michael said. 鈥淪o there is a level of instructional coherence in that district. There鈥檚 a level of continuity in leadership.鈥�
Just behind Worcester in math proficiency is Howard County, which recorded its students鈥� proficiency in math at 42%, pu from 41.1% two years ago.
Carroll County students had the second highest proficiency in English at 66.5%. Students in Dorchester County saw the biggest increase in English scores, rising from听33.7% to 41.3%.
Although Somerset County recorded the lowest student proficiency in math last school year at 10.1%, that was an improvement from the 9.8% recorded two years ago.
Despite the gains, lawmakers missed an opportunity to make scores even higher in the future, said Trish Brennan-Gac, executive director of , in an interview Tuesday.
The General Assembly approved a training program within the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act during this year鈥檚 90-day legislative session. But no funding was attached to the program educators call a 鈥渃oaching program.鈥�
鈥淲e will not see as dramatic improvement in reading instruction in 2026 as we could have,鈥� Brennan-Gac said. 鈥淗ad the legislature funded that program, they would have been able to establish the coaching program this summer, train the coaches and begin to have them supporting teachers in the classroom this year, which means by the spring, when the MCAP scores were administered, students are more likely to have had better reading instruction and have reading proficiency rates increase.
鈥淪o next year, we will probably, hopefully see the same continued weak trend instead of a dramatic improvement,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o, if we want to see that dramatic improvement, then we have to get the coaching funded.鈥�
