Milford schools outpace state with gains in English, math

The Milford School District recorded some of Delaware’s strongest combined gains in English language arts and mathematics proficiency in 2026, according to statewide assessment results released by the Delaware Department of Education.

Districtwide proficiency increased by 4 percentage points in English language arts and 3 points in mathematics, exceeding Delaware’s statewide improvement

By George D. Rotsch, Editor of Milford LIVE

DOVER, DE – The Milford School District recorded some of Delaware’s strongest combined gains in English language arts and mathematics proficiency in 2026, according to statewide assessment results released by the Delaware Department of Education.

Districtwide proficiency increased by 4 percentage points in English language arts and 3 percentage points in mathematics compared with 2025.

Those gains exceeded the statewide improvement of 1 percentage point in each subject for students in grades three through eight.

The Department of Education highlighted Milford and the Christina School District as two districts demonstrating strong combined one-year improvement. Christina recorded 2-point gains in both English language arts and mathematics.

What the state measured

The results are based on statewide academic assessments administered during the 2025-26 school year. Students in grades three through eight were tested in English language arts and mathematics.

The standardized assessments are intended to measure whether students have learned the knowledge and skills included in Delaware’s academic standards for their grade levels.

English language arts assessments generally measure students’ ability to read and understand grade-level material, analyze information, use evidence and demonstrate writing and language skills.

Mathematics assessments measure students’ understanding of grade-level concepts and their ability to apply those concepts when solving problems.

Students’ results are placed into achievement categories. Those classified as proficient or above are considered to have met or exceeded Delaware’s expectations for their grade and subject.

A district’s proficiency rate represents the percentage of tested students who reached those standards across the district’s tested grades.

Why Milford’s results represent progress

Milford’s gains mean a larger share of district students met or exceeded grade-level expectations in both tested subjects than in the previous year.

The 4-point increase in English language arts was four times the statewide gain. Milford’s 3-point mathematics increase was three times the improvement recorded statewide.

A percentage-point increase is different from a percent increase. If a proficiency rate moved from 30% to 34%, for example, that would represent an increase of 4 percentage points.

The figures released by the state show how much Milford’s districtwide proficiency rates changed, but the announcement did not provide the district’s complete proficiency rates. The results therefore demonstrate the pace of improvement without showing the total percentage of Milford students who are now proficient.

They also do not mean that every student improved or that the district has reached its long-term academic goals. They show that a greater share of students reached the state standard in 2026 than in 2025.

Gains recorded in both subjects

Milford’s combined gains are noteworthy because the district improved in both English language arts and mathematics.

A district can report progress in one subject while remaining unchanged or declining in another. Milford’s results instead show broader positive movement across the two central subjects included in the state’s grades three through eight assessment program.

The results give district leaders an opportunity to examine what may have contributed to the improvement, including school leadership, classroom instruction, educator coaching, instructional materials and the regular use of student data.

State officials said Delaware should study the practices associated with improving schools and districts and determine how successful approaches can be sustained and expanded.

Banneker results not directly comparable

Benjamin Banneker Elementary School in Milford was among the schools that previously received state literacy support.

The school has since been reconfigured and now serves students only through first grade. Because Delaware’s statewide English language arts and mathematics assessments begin in third grade, Banneker does not have comparable third-grade results for the latest reporting period.

The school’s reconfiguration means it should not be included in a direct year-to-year comparison of third-grade proficiency.

Milford’s reported gains instead reflect districtwide results among students in the grades covered by the statewide assessments.

Statewide progress remains modest

Across Delaware, English language arts proficiency for students in grades three through eight increased from 41% in 2025 to 42% in 2026. Mathematics proficiency increased from 34% to 35%.

Statewide mathematics proficiency has now improved for four consecutive years, rising from 30% in 2022 to 35% in 2026.

Despite that progress, most Delaware students are not meeting grade-level standards in either subject. Performance also remains uneven among schools, subjects and student groups.

Third-grade English language arts proficiency increased from 39% to 40% statewide. That remains below the Department of Education’s 2028 goal of 53%.

“Statewide assessments are important because they tell us whether students are meeting grade-level expectations,” Delaware Secretary of Education Cindy Marten said. “This year’s results show modest movement, especially in grades three through eight mathematics, but they also make clear that too many students are not where they need to be.”

Marten said statewide averages should not obscure stronger progress within individual schools and districts.

“A one-percentage point statewide increase is not the win,” she said. “The more important question is what we learn from schools where students are moving faster and what we change where students are not making enough progress.”

Proficiency is only one measure

The results released in August measure proficiency, meaning whether students met the state’s grade-level expectations at the time they took the assessment.

Proficiency does not measure every aspect of student performance.

A student who started the year significantly below grade level could make substantial academic progress and still fall short of the proficiency standard. Another student could remain proficient while making relatively limited progress during the year.

Delaware reports academic growth separately to provide a better understanding of how much students advanced over time.

The state plans to release its 2026 student growth results Sept. 15. Those results will provide additional context for Milford’s proficiency gains, including the progress of students who have not yet reached grade-level standards.

More results still to come

The proficiency report is the first phase of Delaware’s annual assessment and accountability process.

Additional releases will cover attendance, science and social studies proficiency, college and career preparation, ninth-grade performance, multilingual learner progress and graduation rates.

The state plans to release the complete Delaware School Success Framework results Oct. 15. That framework combines academic results with other school-quality measures to present a broader picture of performance.

For Milford, the remaining data will help show whether its higher proficiency rates were accompanied by strong individual student growth and whether progress extended across schools and different groups of students.

The initial results nevertheless provide encouraging evidence that Milford is moving in the right direction and improving faster than the state as a whole in English language arts and mathematics.

TO GO BOX

What: Review the Milford School District’s 2026 assessment results
What was released: English language arts and mathematics proficiency results for students in grades three through eight
Milford’s gains: English language arts proficiency increased by 4 percentage points, while mathematics proficiency increased by 3 points.
What proficiency means: The percentage of tested students who met or exceeded Delaware’s grade-level academic standards
Individual results: Families can access student score reports through their Infinite Campus accounts.
District and school results: Available through the Delaware Open Data Portal at data.delaware.gov
Upcoming releases:
- Sept. 15: Student growth
- Sept. 22: Attendance, science, social studies, college and career preparedness, and ninth-grade on-track results
- Sept. 29: Multilingual learner progress and graduation rates
- Oct. 15: Complete Delaware School Success Framework results