Montgomery County public school students continued to score above state averages in reading and math, according to Maryland standardized test results released Tuesday.

The annual exam, called the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, tests students in grades 3–8 as well as some high schoolers in English, math and science. Students score a 1 through 4 on the assessments, with the top two levels considered proficient.

Education officials across Maryland are eager for speedy academic growth to counteract the steep declines that followed the pandemic. And while Montgomery County students outperformed those in the state overall, children there didn’t see quite the same level of progress as in some other districts.

“I believe that these results show that we are turning the corner and moving in the right direction,” Superintendent Thomas Taylor said in a statement. “However, we still have much work to do to get to where we need to be and to ensure our students will be Future Ready. We are up to the challenge.”

Here are the takeaways, by the numbers.

6

That’s roughly how many percentage points separated Montgomery County students’ English Language Arts scores from the state’s average.

In Maryland’s largest school system, 57% of students were considered proficient in English. Statewide, 50.8% of students hit that standard.

9

That’s about how many percentage points Montgomery County students stood above the state in math.

Math remains a major struggle for children in Maryland, with just 26.5% of students hitting proficiency standards across the state.

Meanwhile, in the county, 35.7% of students hit that threshold.

2.4

Statewide, scores went up by this many percentage points in both math and English.

However, MCPS didn’t demonstrate as much growth in English, with scores improving by only 1.7 percentage points. Their math results rose by 2.3 percentage points.

Several other school districts saw more growth than MCPS in math.

Other high-performing districts, such as Harford County Public Schools, also demonstrated a higher level of improvement across both subjects. For example, Harford County’s scores increased by 3.5 percentage points in math.

4th & 5th

Montgomery County’s declines revealed themselves in elementary school English, particularly in the fourth and fifth grades. Pandemic-induced isolation – and virtual school – began while these children were experiencing some of their formative years.

Roughly 54.5% of fourth-graders were deemed proficient in English, a 1.4 percentage point drop. In fifth grade, about 51% of students hit standards, a decline of roughly 1 percentage point.

Statewide, fourth graders were the only students to show declines in English. They went from 49.3% proficiency to 48.4%.

District officials noted that a new curriculum was recently introduced.

10.6

That’s the percentage point gain Montgomery County students made in geometry from 2024 to 2025 — where MCPS students saw the most improvement, and its only subject matter with a double-digit increase.

High school scores brought more good news, especially in 10th grade English, where students improved by 4.5 percentage points – the largest year-over-year gain for any reading level in the county.