2026 State Test Score Results Data Series
The 2026 State Test Score Results Data Series is published by the Education Data Center and is designed to provide updates on 2026 state assessment data.
What to expect: Our goal is to provide high-level insights on ELA and math state summative assessment outcomes for students in grades 3-8. We will publish overviews as State Education Agencies (SEAs) publicly release assessment results and/or as we receive aggregate results via public records requests.
For additional information about each state assessment, please see the end of this post. All available 2026 assessment data used for this data series will be published by the EDC in December.
Questions, comments, or suggestions? Let us know at info@eddatacenter.org!
Trends Over Time
In August, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) released the annual 2026 ELA and math results from the Smarter Balanced assessments for students in grades 3-8. The results are available via the statewide Delaware Open Data Portal. However, the publicly available dataset does not provide results disaggregated by achievement level (i.e., levels 1-4); our team therefore submitted a public records request for this information, which we use to provide the results below.
In 2026, proficiency rates rose in both ELA and math for students in Grades 3-8 in Delaware, with both subjects reaching their highest post-pandemic levels, though neither has fully recovered to 2019 rates.
It is important to note that ELA and math show two distinct recovery trends in Delaware. Math scores have risen in each of the last four years, from 26.3% in 2021 to 35.0% in 2026, an increase of 8.7 points. ELA, however, has moved only 1.1 points since 2021, from 40.7% to 41.8%.
ELA: Approximately 41.8% of students in grades 3-8 reached proficiency in 2026, up from 41.2% in 2025. ELA scores dropped about 12.6 points following the pandemic, and since then, have improved by only about 1 point overall. Four of six grade levels showed at least some progress in ELA, led by Grade 5 (+2.3 points) and Grade 3 (+1.3 points); two grades dipped by less than 1 point, namely Grade 4 (-0.7 points) and Grade 7 (-0.4 points). Milford School District had the largest ELA improvement from 2025, rising 4.8 points from 32.6% to 37.4%. Milford saw gains across nearly all grade levels, with the largest improvements in Grade 4 (+8.1 points), Grade 6 (+7 points), and Grade 8 (+6.6 points).
The DDOE reported that “Schools receiving targeted state literacy support showed some of the strongest gains in the 2026 results. Most schools receiving state-supported literacy coaching improved Grade 3 English language arts proficiency from 2025 to 2026.”
Math: Approximately 35.0% of students reached proficiency in 2026, up from 33.8% in 2025 and marking the fifth year of growth in math. DDOE’s press release notes that this is the fourth year of gains when using 2022 as a baseline. All grade levels improved in math except for Grade 4 (-0.7 point), led by gains in Grade 8 (+2.8 points) and Grade 5 (+2.0 points). Caesar Rodney School District and Lake Forest School District led the state in math gains, each improving by 3.6 points.
Results by Achievement Level
A Closer Look at 2026
State Assessment Background
Assessment Name: Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment
Additional Information:
General ELA and math assessment resources can be found here: https://education.delaware.gov/educators/academic-support/standards-and-assessments/
2026 results are available from DDOE here (without achievement level data): https://data.delaware.gov/Education/Student-Assessment-Performance/ms6b-mt82
The DDOE 2026 press release can be found here: https://news.delaware.gov/2026/08/18/delaware-schools-receiving-targeted-literacy-support-show-some-of-the-states-strongest-assessment-gains/
Data presented here are specific to this state’s assessment and are not comparable to assessments administered by other states. For questions, please reach out to info@eddatacenter.org.
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