From Calvert County to Howard County, students in Maryland’s outlying towns and suburbs are outperforming those who attend the vaunted Montgomery County school system and those in neighboring Prince George’s County.

An analysis of recently released results from the 2009 Maryland Standardized Assessment, commonly called the MSA, shows that Howard County’s third and eighth graders more often scored in the highest category than Montgomery County students in both reading and math. The tests are given each year to students in grades three through eight and are scored “basic,” “proficient” or “advanced.”