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# Delaware’s Lowest-Scoring Students Show Stronger Academic Growth
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-delaware-2026-09-16-a/
- Published: 2026-09-16T06:23:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T06:23:13.000Z
- Description: Delaware’s new Growth Index shows students with the lowest prior-year scores advanced faster toward individual targets than the statewide average, though neither group met full targets overall.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: State News, Delaware

Delaware students who entered the 2025–26 school year with the lowest prior-year test scores made more progress toward their individual academic targets than students statewide, according to the state’s first separate release of its Delaware School Success Framework Growth Index.

The [Department of Education results](https://news.delaware.gov/2026/09/15/delaware-releases-2026-dssf-academic-progress-results/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) show that the lowest-performing prior-year group achieved an average 67% of its English language arts growth targets and 63% of its mathematics targets. Statewide, students averaged 59.3% of their ELA targets and 57.55% of their math targets.

Those percentages require careful interpretation. They do not mean 59.3% of students met their ELA targets. The index calculates the average share of each student’s individualized target that was completed, recognizing partial progress. Delaware plans to report the separate percentage of students who fully reached their targets on school report cards in November.

The growth findings are encouraging for students who started furthest behind, but they do not erase proficiency gaps. A child can improve substantially while remaining below grade level. The state’s [August proficiency release](https://news.delaware.gov/2026/08/18/delaware-schools-receiving-targeted-literacy-support-show-some-of-the-states-strongest-assessment-gains/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) emphasized gains at schools receiving targeted literacy support while also showing that many students had not yet reached grade-level expectations. Education Secretary Cindy Marten said growth and proficiency must be evaluated together.

School-level results also reveal substantial variation. Etta J. Wilson Elementary in the Christina School District posted an 86.18% ELA Growth Index and 79.07% in math. Claymont Elementary recorded 81.07% in math, while Albert H. Jones Elementary reached 83.8% in ELA. Fourteen district and charter schools scored above the statewide average in both subjects.

The complete [student-growth dataset](https://data.delaware.gov/Education/Student-Growth/kqmb-6xbs/about%5Fdata?ref=theamericanquorum.com) allows families and educators to review results by school rather than relying only on statewide averages. That distinction matters because a statewide gain can coexist with schools experiencing weak growth, and a school below the proficiency average may still be accelerating from a lower starting point.

For districts, the practical value is diagnostic. Schools above average in both proficiency and growth can offer models for instruction and intervention. Schools with low proficiency but stronger growth may need continued support rather than a conclusion that current strategies are failing. Low performance on both measures signals a more urgent need for changes and additional assistance.

The September 15 release is only one stage of Delaware’s accountability calendar. The state is scheduled to publish school-quality and student-success measures on September 22, English-language proficiency and graduation data on September 29, and complete DSSF results on October 15\. Those later releases will provide a broader view of attendance, graduation and other conditions that test scores alone cannot capture.

The central finding is therefore mixed: Delaware’s lowest-scoring students showed comparatively stronger momentum, but the average student in every reported group still fell short of completing a full annual growth target. The next policy question is whether the state can identify which school practices produced the strongest gains and extend them without losing focus on grade-level proficiency.