Imagine for a moment that your favorite football team is coming off their last season where they lost every single game. Then at the end of the current season, they still lose every single game. But this time the head coach of the team stands up at a press conference and says, "Sure, we lost every single game again, but we did score a few more points this year than last. We are really proud of that."
Would that be acceptable to you and other fans? Heck no, you'd be demanding that not only the coach get fired from the team, but all of his staff as well. You may even demand a new owner!
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However, if you are a Maryland school district, a 1–2-point increase in terrible scores is considered something to celebrate.
In the recent 2026 MCAP scores statewide, reading scores went from 50.8% proficient to 52.7% proficient or 1.9 points. This means that 47.3 % of students are NOT proficient in reading. Math scores went from 26.5% proficient in 2025 up to 27.1% proficient in 2026, less than 1 point.
Get out the champagne. Fire off the confetti.
State leaders call this a "positive trend" and remind everyone that these tests are going away next year. Whew. They will be replaced next year by the Maryland System of Testing Academic Readiness or MSTAR in grades 3-8 with high school the following year.
Let's take a look at that for a moment.
Give the authorities credit for coming up with the most ridiculous name for a testing program. Why would you create a testing program that measures "academic readiness" instead of "academic progress" or, even better, "academic achievement"? We all know why. The state wants to hide behind the word "readiness." Readiness means the state of being ready, prepared, or willing to do something.
It doesn't mean you can actually do it or that you will do it. For example, a person who knows what an airplane is might be ready, willing, and possibly prepared to fly a plane. However, they probably can't safely fly a plane at even the most basic of levels if they haven't shown the ability to do so.
Apparently, the State of Maryland is giving up on students actually achieving academic proficiency or excellence but will measure only if they are possibly ready to do so.
READINESS Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
Eastern Shore District Results 2026
Locally, districts showed the same or lower improvement. Talbot, which showed some of the highest improvement in the state, went from 45.4% proficient last year in English to 46.8% this year. That is a whopping 1.4-point increase. This means that 53.2% of Talbot students are NOT proficient in English/Reading.
In Math, Talbot went from 18.9% proficient last year to 20.7 % this year. That is a 1.8-point positive difference. Still, 79.3% of students in Talbot County are NOT proficient in Math.
In what world is any of that good news?
The only subjects where Talbot could claim legitimate growth was 5th grade Science. Fifth grade scores went up 7.8 points. 8th grade only increased by 4.2 points.
Caroline County showed similar trends, 50.8 % proficient in English this year up from 49.0% last year; up 1.8 points. Math scores last year were 23.7% proficiency last year, up 1.5 points from last year. 5th grade and 8th grade Science showed similar gains to Talbot's.
Queen Anne's County's scores were basically flat with 57% proficient English last year up to 57.9% this year and Math at 31.6% last year up to 31.7% this year. Fifth grade Science was up while 8th grade was down.
Finally, Dorchester County suffered setbacks in English and Math this year, with a 37.5% in English down from last year's 41.3% and a 16.3% in Math this year down from 16.4%. This was after a year of promising gains in the county's English scores which were best in the state.
Talbot School Scores:
At the school level, Talbot scores were uneven. Five of the schools listed had less than 20% of their students proficient in Math. Three had less than 50% proficient in English. (By English they mean Reading)
Chapel District: English -69.1% proficient, Math 51.9% proficient
St. Michaels Elementary/Middle - English 49.7% proficient, Math 35.3% proficient
White Marsh Elementary - English 56.0% proficient, Math 48% proficient
Easton Elementary - English 32.1% proficient, Math 19.1% proficient
Tilghman Elementary - English 44.4% proficient, Math 19.4% proficient
Easton Middle School - English 38.6% proficient, Math 14.3% proficient
St. Michaels Middle/High School - English 57.5% proficient, Math 11.5% proficient
Easton High School - English 62.5% proficient, Math 6.2% proficient
The Big Spin:
Across the state and counties, the big spin will now commence. Here will be the typical excuses for the scores as they are:
- Even though the Blueprint has increased Maryland’s statewide K–12 education funding by approximately 17%, with annual increases of 5–6% annually, educators, particularly Teachers' unions, will say it's not enough money. It's of particular note that the 17% increase in funding has been accompanied by state and local scores that have either stayed flat or decreased. This is not a good return on investment.
- Districts will also complain that they don't have enough classroom teachers. However, the Blueprint is actually causing systems to reduce teaching staff because of funding while increasing/maintaining high paid middle management administration. Districts were required to implement a $60,000 a year minimum for teachers. This while paying state mandated administrators six figures.
- Not enough parental involvement. Systems shift the blame for poor academic performance on lack of family support.
- Too much parental involvement. Yes, that's what I said. Systems will say that parents get too involved in what their children are being taught. If you think 4 and 5 are contradictions, you are correct. They will shift between these two excuses depending on the situation.
- The tests are faulty. This is probably the silliest thing they complain about since THEY PAY THE CONTRACTOR AND HELP DESIGN THE TESTS. Plus, these tests have been in place for a few years and the complain that they are faulty every year. Teachers actually TEACH WITH THE TEST IN MIND. Are they saying they are teaching faulty content? With the new tests coming which will only measure "readiness" they won't have this excuse anymore. Right?
- We don't have enough diversity in our teaching force. Here's the bottom line. Great and good teachers come in all colors, and it doesn't matter what color a teacher is if they are competent. In the past five years, the percent of Black (18.9 in 20/21 to 21.4 in 24/25) and Hispanic teachers (4.0 in 20/21 to 4.9 in 24/25) in Maryland has increased while the percent of White (71.0 in 20/21 to 66 in 24/25) has decreased. Also, nationally, the teaching pool for Black and Hispanic teachers is 7% to 8% and 9% to 10% respectively. Do we really think this is a deciding factor in state scores?
The "best" excuse that I have heard was voiced by the President of the Talbot County School Board two years ago when she said that she knew our students were much stronger academically than the tests showed. While tests are considered a "snapshot" of student achievement and competency, they are an independent measure of student academics in a district. If the testing picture is not accurate, then either one's classroom assessments of student accomplishments are distorted, or the test is inaccurate and should be abolished. If either is the case, something needs to change.
What Needs To Happen?
The solution to the mediocrity in student performance in Maryland is not easy, but it can be done.
First, local districts need to have autonomy over their schools and how best to allocate resources and funding. The people closest to the schools can best assess the needs. This is why school boards are elected and not appointed. Autonomy will encourage innovation, local pride and "buy in" to the schools. Plus, it will increase accountability which is currently lacking as school boards/Superintendents can blame all problems "upstream" on state regulations and policies.
Second, ancillary programs and interventions need to be carefully examined and, if needed, abolished. Uninterrupted student classroom time is vital to increasing student achievement. Studies have shown that when students, particularly those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, have their instruction constantly disrupted, they fail to learn and retain content.
Maryland schools lose 30–90 minutes of effective learning time per day, depending on grade level and schedule structure. This loss is large enough to reduce annual learning by multiple months, based on national research. This does not mean that class times need to be longer, but that the time IN CLASS needs to be considered sacred and not be interrupted by transitions, technology setup, students leaving class for activities, behavior issues, administrative interruptions, etc.
However, students also need more planned recess/physical activity breaks throughout the day to help with leaning. Educational outcomes of recess in elementary school children: A mixed-methods systematic review | PLOS One With strong organization, this can be achieved for students all the way up through middle school and possibly higher.
Third, the focus of schools needs to be brought back to academics rather than social justice, politically motivated topics and amateur psychology such as social emotional learning. These distractions not only interrupt learning, but they also often intrude on parental/family rights.
Finally, schools across the country are reporting more disruptions due to student behavior. These disruptions not only intrude on class time, they also affect the focus of students in class. When one is anxious about the behavior of other students, they cannot learn. Schools need to return to more strict control of student behavior and more student accountability for their disruptions. Teachers need to be supported by administrators so they can TEACH. Programs such as restorative justice, which originated in prisons, simply don't work.
https://defendinged.org/discipline
School boards need to start taking more responsibility and reclaim their rights as elected officials to make changes in their districts. They need to stop rubber stamping what Superintendents and administrators do without real thought and accountability. Superintendents need to start earning those six figure salaries and act as more than figureheads by being innovators and getting out in the schools more often to observe, listen and help make REAL change.
Will schools address any of these issues? Doubtful. Unlike that football team I mentioned in the beginning, there will be no change of personnel. The same staff who has steered the district toward mediocrity for thirty plus years will remain, collecting a check without improving student achievement one bit.
There will be no substantial change in what schools do statewide and locally. There will be no focus on hard choices that need to be made. School boards will nod their heads and concede to Superintendents. Superintendents will shift blame and tow the MSDE line.
Just more excuses.
And the students will be the losers.
I hope I am wrong. I seriously doubt it.
PERSONAL NOTE: I was the Accountability Coordinator for my county, which means I was in charge of state testing administration and reporting. In my position, I was asked many times to "polish" poor scores and make them sound like progress. The superintendent at the time told me not to speak to the press about scores at all. I told him that was a bad idea because the local press would make sure they emphasized that we were not talking about scores because they were terrible. I was right.
The superintendent was not happy, but it was his decision.
