Maryland statewide math scores drop dramatically since before the pandemic

Maryland’s public-school students posted notably low pass rates on statewide math tests administered last spring, and surprisingly good scores on English language arts, a hint at the complexity of recovery in the first full year of teaching after the pandemic. The tests, considered difficult, show that less than half of the students statewide in any grade are considered proficient in either English or math, though a larger percentage of students do well in English. In third grade, 45% of students passed the English test, up from 41% in 2019, the last time the full spring test was given before the pandemic was declared in March 2020. And a higher percentage of third-, fourth-, sixth- and 10th-graders across the state passed the English test than they did in 2019, suggesting that school systems more than made up for the learning loss in that subject.