MCPS Claims Major Gains

By Adam Pagnucco.

MCPS is claiming major gains in school performance under the state’s star rating system, which rates schools from 1 to 5 stars based on how they fare on a variety of outcome indicators.  According to MCPS, “less than half of MCPS schools held 4- or 5-STAR top-tier ratings” three years ago.  As of today, two-thirds of MCPS schools meet those ratings.  The district’s press release goes into much more detail on its performance improvement.

One note: according to the Banner, the state is going to revamp its rating system next year, meaning that MCPS will need to seek a different measure to chart any changes in its performance.  The Banner writes:

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School ratings are not much more than a proxy for family income, said Josh Michael, president of the Maryland State Board of Education. Schools with students from higher-income families have high ratings, and schools with a majority of low-income families have lower ratings.

In other words, if the state rated schools from one to five stars based on students’ family incomes, schools would get nearly the same ratings as they do with all the factors the Report Card ratings incorporate today.

In the next year, the state will rewrite its rating system to give more weight to how well schools help struggling students catch up and to student performance on the state test, as measured by pass rates. If the new rating system is successful, schools will be rewarded for their efforts to bring low-income students up to grade level, even if they don’t have a high pass rate on the test.

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This new system could work against schools in high income counties like Montgomery, Howard and Anne Arundel.  In any event, its ratings will not be comparable to the ones used now.  But that’s an issue for the future.  Right now, MCPS is having a good day.  Its press release is reprinted below.

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MCPS ON THE RISE: Two-Thirds of Schools Earn Top Ratings on 2026 Maryland School Report Card

Widespread literacy and math gains propel 50 new schools to 4- and 5-STAR status

Rockville, Md. — Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is celebrating a major academic milestone as newly released 2026 Maryland School Report Card accountability results show 134 schools in the district (67%) earned 4- or 5-STAR ratings.

The results show significant progress toward the district’s MCPS Future Ready 2025–2030 Strategic Plan, which sets a primary benchmark of having 100% of MCPS schools earn four stars or higher on the Maryland School Report Card by 2030.

In total, 36 schools achieved 5-STAR status (including 20 schools that rose from 4 to 5) and 98 earned 4-STAR status (including 30 schools that rose from 3 to 4), while 17 schools recorded double-digit gains in their overall state performance scores.

This performance marks a dramatic transformation from just three years ago when less than half of MCPS schools held 4- or 5-STAR top-tier ratings.

Included in these gains are important improvements in many of our historically marginalized communities:

• 135 schools recorded gains among Emergent Multilingual Learners, including 83 schools with gains in ELA and 98 with gains in math.
• 140 schools recorded gains in English/Language Arts, mathematics or both among students with disabilities.
• Three years ago, half of MCPS schools had a 4- or 5-STAR rating.
• 17 MCPS schools achieved double-digit increases in their overall performance scores.
• 135 MCPS schools improved in literacy (ELA), 123 improved in math, 91 gained in both subjects.
• 114 schools recorded gains in math and 98 schools recorded gains in ELA among Black/African American students.
• 116 schools recorded gains in math and 125 in ELA among Hispanic/Latino students.

“In just a few years, we have gone from less than half of our schools with four or more STARs to more than two-thirds,” said Superintendent Dr. Thomas W. Taylor. “These improvements communicate the strong value of public education and demonstrate that our strategic investments are delivering real results for students. Behind every test score or jump in performance is a dedicated team of teachers and support educators in every one of our schools that is working hard to deliver standards-based instruction. MCPS will continue working to build on this academic growth and ensure every student has the access and opportunity needed to succeed.”

Board of Education President Grace Rivera-Oven emphasized the collective effort behind the achievement. “These results reflect the extraordinary hard work happening in our classrooms every single day, from our dedicated educators to our students and families who give their all,” she said. “While we celebrate this tremendous progress, we know our work is far from finished. Real progress means ensuring that every child, in every neighborhood and from every background, receives the support they need to thrive.”

Overall, 56 schools increased their state STAR rating this year, with 50 schools now entering the top two tiers.

Underpinning the rating upgrades are broad, classroom-level gains: 136 schools improved in English Language Arts (ELA), 130 improved in mathematics and 96 gained in both subjects.

In literacy, some schools made extraordinary progress.

• Albert Einstein High School led the district with a 20.9 percentage-point gain in proficiency and the proficiency of Black/African American students increased 27.9 percentage points.
• Fairland Elementary School followed by increasing 17.2-percentage points in proficiency and the proficiency of Black/African American students increased 20.5 percentage points.
• Rockville High School increased 13.7 percentage points in proficiency and the proficiency of Black/African American students increased 10.5 percentage points.
• Cloverly Elementary School followed by increasing 11.9 percentage points in proficiency and the proficiency of Black/African American students increased by 11.0 percentage points.
• Sherwood Elementary School increased 10.8 percentage points in proficiency and the proficiency of Black/African American students increased 2.2 percentage points.
• Germantown Elementary School increased 10.3 percentage points in proficiency and the proficiency of Black/African American students increased 17.3 percentage points.
• In mathematics, some schools also made extraordinary progress:
• Laytonsville Elementary School led the district with a 15.5 percentage-point increase in proficiency and the proficiency of Hispanic/Latino students increased 22.9 percentage points.
• Rockville High School followed with an increase of 11.8 percentage points in proficiency and proficiency for Hispanic/Latino students increased 2.8 percentage points.
• East Silver Spring Elementary School increased 10.5 percentage points in proficiency and the proficiency of Hispanic/Latino students increased 10.6 percentage points.
• Clarksburg High School increased 10.0 percentage points in proficiency and the proficiency of Hispanic/Latino students increased 4.5 percentage points.
• Clopper Mill Elementary School increased 11.1 percentage points in proficiency and the proficiency of Hispanic/Latino students increased 14.7 percentage points.

Several schools demonstrated particularly strong improvement across both subjects, including Clopper Mill, Germantown and Sherwood elementary schools and Albert Einstein, Clarksburg and Rockville high schools. Notable leaders included Albert Einstein (which increased 20.9 percentage points in ELA and 8.9 percentage points in mathematics) and Rockville (which increased 11.8 points in mathematics).

• For complete school-by-school accountability details, access the information one-pager.
• For state data: visit the Maryland School Report Card.

Data note: STAR rating comparisons reflect 2025 and 2026 school results. Academic improvement counts reflect increases in the percentage of students scoring proficient on the Academic Achievement indicator in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Comparisons are based on schools with comparable results in each subject, and the number of schools included may vary by measure.