2026 MCAP results
How Legends compares to Maryland
The right comparison is not “all Maryland students.” Legends serves 98% Black and Brown scholars in a high-poverty community.So the fair benchmarks are Maryland's Black students and Maryland's high-poverty schools (80% or more of scholars qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch). Every row is shown, including where Legends trails.
Maryland figures: MSDE, 2025-2026 MCAP Results Deep Dive, presented to the Maryland State Board of Education on August 25, 2026 by State Superintendent Dr. Carey M. Wright and Chief of Accountability Geoff Sanderson.
| Benchmark (2026 MCAP) | Benchmark | Legends | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland, all students | 52% | 45.6% | −6.4 pts |
| Maryland, Black students | 41% | 45.6% | +4.6 pts |
| Maryland, economically disadvantaged students | 36% | 45.6% | +9.6 pts |
| Maryland, high-poverty schools (80%+ free/reduced lunch) | 30.7% | 45.6% | +14.9 pts |
In ELA, Legends trails the all-Maryland figure by 6.4 points and is ahead of every fair benchmark: 4.6 points above Maryland's Black students, 9.6 above economically disadvantaged students statewide, and 14.9 above Maryland's high-poverty schools.
| Benchmark (2026 MCAP) | Benchmark | Legends | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland, all students | 27% | 13.5% | −13.5 pts |
| Maryland, Black students | 21% | 13.5% | −7.5 pts |
| Maryland, economically disadvantaged studentsessentially at parity | 14% | 13.5% | −0.5 pts |
| Maryland, high-poverty schools (80%+ free/reduced lunch) | 12.7% | 13.5% | +0.8 pts |
In math, Legends trails the all-Maryland figure by 13.5 points and Maryland's Black students by 7.5. Against economically disadvantaged students statewide Legends is 0.5 below, essentially at parity, and against Maryland's high-poverty schools it is 0.8 ahead.
Context from the state deck: math proficiency declined statewide for all five grade-3 cohorts from 2022 to 2026, down 4.8 to 16.2 points as the cohorts aged up. Legends is climbing while the state trend is declining.
Legends internal data (i-Ready), not state dataLegends' internal i-Ready data shows 86% growth, closing the gap at 2.4x the PGCPS pace.
Gains over time
Maryland high-poverty schools, four years (2022 to 2026)
+6.8 ELA
+5.4 math
Legends, two years (SY24 to SY26)
+6.5 ELA
+5.7 math
Points of proficiency gained. The two spans differ, as labelled.
Standout gains in one year at Legends
Grade 5 Science
15% → 32%
proficiency rose
Grade 8 MISA
35% → 14%
scholars at the lowest level fell
Attendance
MSDE found that 70.6% of Maryland's top ELA scorers (performance level 4) had under 5% absence, versus 44.5% of the lowest scorers, and that 77.9% of top math scorers had near-perfect attendance. That is what the state observed across Maryland; it describes a pattern, not a cause.
Legends' chronic absenteeism is 9.2%. PGCPS's is 27%.