Worcester County Public Schools leading statewide scores
Salisbury, Md. – Test scores of Maryland students are bringing some pride to schools on the shore.
Results from the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP), say Worcester County Public Schools are outperforming other schools in Mathematics and English – Language Arts (ELA).
“I really think it’s a testament to the work of everyone in our school district,” Worcester County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Annette Wallace said. “We have spent, many years believing in Worcester County Public Schools that teachers make the difference, and that people make the difference.”
On the spring ELA assessments, almost 70% of Worcester County Public School students scored as proficient or higher, over 18 percentage points above the state average of almost 51.7%. According to Worcester County Public Schools, seventh grade proficiency in ELA grew at every school, increasing proficiency by four percentage points or better for the second consecutive year. Officials said Pocomoke Middle School and Pocomoke Elementary School made some of the largest jumps, with an increase of 6.4 percentage points and 17.5 percentage points over last year, respectively.
In mathematics, Worcester County topped the state by over 21 percentage points with almost 49% of students reaching proficiency across all assessments. School officials say Buckingham Elementary School’s fourth grade increased by 20.1 percentage points over last year. Third grade results at Ocean City Elementary School and PES increased by 17.5 percentage points and 17.4 percentage points respectively.
Wallace said one of the things she credits for the county’s success has been focusing on valuing all of their educators, regardless of their roles in the school system.
“No matter what your role is in the school system, or even as a community partner, we are all educators together,” she said. “We’re all teaching students lessons in the moment, in every interaction we have with students.”
Wallace also said that the culture cultivated within the school system has led to tangible results.
“One being our continual focus and continual improvement, around creating a community and culture of care in each of our schools,” she said. She also credits “the expectation that every child can succeed” has led to better test scores.
“It’s just a matter of figuring out what are all those little 1% fixes that are gonna get a student to put them in a position where they can be successful and show what they know on a state assessment,” she said. “We know the assessments aren’t the end-all, be-all, but they are a measurement in time of what our students have learned.”
The final thing Wallace credits as a reason for students’ success is having a strong fidelity to state-required research-based curriculums.
“The great thing about the programs that we use is that when used appropriately, and when used with fidelity, they really do break down barriers for all students so that they can access the curriculum at a high level, and so that they can achieve,” she said.
2025 to 2026 was the last school year to use MCAP before moving onto a newly designed Maryland System of Testing Academic Readiness, MSTAR, for third through eighth graders starting this fall.
