The Light Bearer

How Black students are performing in Maryland schools

In Maryland, 19.0% of Black students are proficient in math at the typical school — against 43.6% of White students. Within Prince George’s County alone, the gap between the best and worst schools for Black children is 86 points. This tool helps you find the right one.

Search Maryland schools ›
34.9%
All students
28.8%
Black
27.1%
Hispanic
54.2%
White
62.3%
Asian

Share of students meeting proficient at the typical Maryland school. Groups are shown wherever Maryland reports them; a group is omitted from a school when too few students were tested to report safely.

These figures come from MCAP 2025, measuring proficient in ELA & Math · Grades 3–8. Across 24 districts, 868 Maryland schools report enough results to be included.

At the typical Maryland school the picture is black students at 28.8%, hispanic students at 27.1%, white students at 54.2% and asian students at 62.3%. That is a 35.2-point spread between the highest and lowest group, inside the same schools, the same districts and the same state — which is what this tool exists to make visible.

What the Maryland data shows

Opportunity
91.2 %

at Glenarden Woods Elementary in Prince George’s County

Across 376 Black student results — the strongest result in the state at real scale. Heather Hills Elementary, in the same county, reaches 87.1% across 302. Both sit inside a district where the average school is far lower.

Disparity
86 pts

gap between the best and worst schools for Black students in Prince George’s County

Glenarden Woods reaches 91.2%. Bradbury Heights Elementary, in the same district, sits at 5.2%. Across 150 schools in one county, a child's address decides which end they land on.

Statewide
15.2 %

of Black students in Maryland are proficient in math

Against 44.0% of White students. Maryland does not publish school-level results by race — these figures come from records requests filed by the Education Data Center.

Where Black students are doing best in Maryland

These are the schools where Black students most often meet proficient, among those with at least 25 Black student results reported. Every group's result is shown alongside, because a school that serves one group well and another poorly is telling you something too.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Glenarden Woods ElementaryPrince George's Magnet 91.5% 91.2% 86.2% 95.5% 93.1%
Heather Hills ElementaryPrince George's Magnet 83.2% 87.1% 92.7%
Pointers Run ElementaryHoward 78.6% 67% 54.2% 79.9% 86.7%
Cromwell Valley Elementary Regional MagnetBaltimore County Magnet 71.2% 66.7% 77%
Lucy V. Barnsley ElementaryMontgomery Magnet 63.9% 65.7% 41.2% 82.6% 67.9%
Dr. Charles R. Drew ElementaryMontgomery Magnet 60.4% 65.2% 45.8% 63.6%
Chapel Hill ElementaryBaltimore County 78.7% 65.1% 90% 81.1% 85.5%
Wilson Wims Elementary SchoolMontgomery 77.6% 64.9% 42.9% 69.6% 88.7%
Windsor Knolls MiddleFrederick 61.2% 64.6% 40.7% 61.4% 77.8%
Windy Hill ElementaryCalvert 62.6% 64.3% 54.3% 62.5%

Flags show magnet, charter, alternative and virtual schools. Some campuses — early college and specialized academies among them — also admit by application, and this page cannot yet identify all of them. Check with the district before assuming a school is open to your address.

Where Black students are struggling most

The same measure at the other end of the range. In many of these schools every group is falling short, which points at the school rather than at the students in it.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Dr. Bernard Harris, Sr., ElementaryBaltimore City 2.5% 2.5%
Johnston Square ElementaryBaltimore City 3% 2.6%
Crossroads CenterBaltimore County Alt 3.4% 3.8% 0%
Sandtown-Winchester Achievement AcademyBaltimore City 4.4% 4%
General John Stricker MiddleBaltimore County 10.9% 4.2% 9.5% 16.4%
Center for Educational OpportunityHarford AltVirtual 10.4% 4.9% 13.9%
Bradbury Heights ElementaryPrince George's 7.7% 5.2% 12.5%
Frederick ElementaryBaltimore City Charter 4.3% 5.4% 0%
ConneXions: A Community Based Arts SchoolBaltimore City Charter 6.1% 5.4%
Katherine Johnson Global AcademyBaltimore City 6.2% 5.5% 7.5%

One district, two outcomes

In Prince George's, Glenarden Woods Elementary reports 91.2% of Black students meeting the standard. Bradbury Heights Elementary, in the same district, reports 5.2%. That is a 86-point spread across 150 schools under one administration, serving one community, funded by one tax base — the clearest illustration of why address matters more than it should.

Maryland districts

Districts with at least ten schools reporting Black student results, by school count. The percentage shown is the average across that district's schools for Black students.

Prince George's — 150 schools, 27.1% average
Montgomery — 136 schools, 37.3% average
Baltimore County — 117 schools, 25.3% average
Baltimore City — 114 schools, 16.6% average
Anne Arundel — 65 schools, 29.5% average
Howard — 54 schools, 36.7% average
Charles — 31 schools, 26.5% average
Frederick — 29 schools, 41.8% average
Harford — 28 schools, 30.8% average
Washington — 16 schools, 28.8% average
Calvert — 15 schools, 36.7% average
Wicomico — 13 schools, 20% average
Saint Mary's — 12 schools, 24.1% average
Cecil — 11 schools, 19.7% average
Dorchester — 6 schools, 17.1% average
Worcester — 6 schools, 36.7% average
Caroline — 5 schools, 19.9% average
Carroll — 5 schools, 46.7% average
Somerset — 5 schools, 15.2% average
Queen Anne's — 4 schools, 22.6% average
Allegany — 2 schools, 31.4% average
Kent — 2 schools, 15.3% average
Talbot — 2 schools, 10.8% average
SEED School Of Maryland — 1 schools, 11.2% average
How these averages are calculated. The figures above average across Maryland schools, giving each school equal weight. They describe the typical school, not the state's tested population, and will differ from the headline figure MCAP 2025 publishes — that one weights every student equally, so larger schools count for more. Use the state's own published figure when citing a statewide number.

How to read the school data. Maryland suppresses results for groups with too few students tested, and reports by grade rather than by school, so many schools fall below the threshold — 868 of Maryland's schools have reportable Black student results. Coverage is grades 3–8; high schools are not included. This ranking reflects the 2024–25 MCAP administration, grades 3–8. Results are refreshed annually as new data is published. Because every state sets its own proficiency standard, Maryland's figures should not be compared directly against another state's.

Other states

Texas Alabama Florida Georgia Illinois Louisiana Mississippi Minnesota Missouri Virginia Ohio California Colorado District of Columbia Delaware Connecticut Indiana Kentucky Massachusetts Michigan New Jersey Nevada New York Oklahoma Pennsylvania Washington Wisconsin North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee