Maryland school test scores: See how your school performed on the MCAP in 2026

Here’s the bad news: Maryland students didn’t produce the most impressive scores on the state’s standardized test.

The good news? Even though statewide scores have hardly budged since last year, students continue to bounce back from the pandemic slump, particularly in middle school English.

State education officials on Tuesday released the latest scores on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, which tests students in grades 3–8 and some high schoolers in English, math and science. It’s the last year elementary and middle schoolers will take the test, which will be replaced by a shorter one known as MSTAR next year.

This year’s results show 51.7% of students were proficient in English language arts and 27.1% were proficient in math. One-year gains in both subjects were less than a percentage point.

But a look at scores from years past shows Maryland students are moving in the right direction.

Middle schoolers are scoring better in English

In 2018, only 38.6% of sixth graders were considered proficient in English. Now half of class members are demonstrating they understand what they’re being taught. It’s the biggest gain among middle schoolers — a 12.1-percentage-point jump.

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Third graders also have something to brag about. They’ve improved by 11.6 percentage points since 2018. Now half the class is proficient in English.

Gains were far more modest from 2025 to 2026. Eighth graders saw the biggest jump, but it was less than two percentage points, bringing the class’s proficiency to 50.2%.

Math is Maryland’s worst subject

Maryland students have long struggled with the math test.

Elementary and middle schoolers scored better in 2018 than they did this year, though their scores have been climbing since 2022. Fourth grade, for example, had 6.6-percentage-point improvement. Similarly, seventh grade jumped 6 percentage points.

Though the pass rates remain low, scores in high school-level math have improved over the years. Only 21.3% of the Algebra I test-takers this year scored proficient, but that’s a 6.9-percentage-point increase since 2022.

Geometry scores showed big jumps this year, but Geoff Sanderson, the Maryland State Department of Education’s chief of accountability, said it reflects a far smaller number of test-takers than usual.

In response to a new math policy, some districts are changing the pattern of math classes students take in middle and high school. Students will soon take a new sequence of classes that combines algebra, statistics and geometry into integrated Algebra I and Algebra II classes.

Search Algebra I, Algebra II and geometry scores by school here.

An Eastern Shore district performed best

Like last year, Worcester County is the best-performing district on the English and math tests. About 70% of students in the Eastern Shore district are considered proficient in English and 48.8% in math.

Carroll County is a close second in English, and Howard snagged second in math.

The most-improved award for English goes to Garrett County with a 2.8-percentage-point increase from last year, bringing its proficiency to 53.4%.

For math, the same award goes to Calvert County. Nearly 38% of the Southern Maryland students are proficient in the tough subject, thanks to the 4.9-percentage-point boost — by far the biggest gain in the state.

Fifth graders are improving in science

Speaking of gains, fifth graders’ scores shot up in science this year. Only fifth and eighth graders are given the state’s science test, and only 32.4% of fifth graders are proficient in the subject. But it’s a 6.8-percentage-point improvement from last year.

Sanderson described the eighth grade scores as “fairly flat” compared to last year. A little more than 30% of the class understood the subject, which is a half-percentage-point drop from last year.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.