More in Md. Pass Tests Required to Graduate

Half of Pr. George's Students Earn Scores Low Enough to Keep Them From Getting Diplomas

More Maryland students earned passing scores this spring on new algebra, biology and government tests that will be required for high school graduation in 2009, state education officials announced yesterday, but about half of Prince George's County students still had scores low enough to put their diplomas at risk.

The Prince George's school system joined others across the state that had more ninth-grade students pass the High School Assessment tests this year than last. The county's passing rate in algebra was 46.1 percent, in biology 42.5 percent and in government 55.5 percent, scores 10 to 25 percentage points higher than last year. School leaders said they were working to prepare the thousands who failed for their next chance at the tests. Students are allowed as many as three attempts a year at the HSA tests.

State officials noted that the passing rates for low-income minority students lagged behind their white and Asian counterparts across the board. In algebra, for instance, 52.7 percent of African American students and 68.8 percent of Hispanic students passed the test statewide this year, compared with 90.4 percent of Asians and 87.6 percent of whites.

Area school systems' overall scores continued to improve. In Howard County, 82.1 percent of students passed the biology test, 85 percent passed government and 85.2 percent passed algebra. In Montgomery County, 78.4 percent of students passed biology, 78.8 percent passed algebra and 81.4 percent passed the government test. In Anne Arundel County, 71.5 percent of students passed the biology test, 86.4 percent passed government and 68.8 percent passed algebra.

State and county school officials said they believe more ninth-graders passed the HSA tests because they are required for graduation, compared with previous years when the results had few consequences for students.

"You cannot underestimate the fact that when it counts, kids take it seriously," said new Prince George's schools chief John E. Deasy. Deasy said he is focused on raising scores in the school system, which has the second-highest poverty rate in the state.

The HSA system will deny a high school diploma, beginning with last year's freshman class, to any student who cannot pass four tests -- in algebra and data analysis, biology, government and second-year English. Students can still receive a diploma if they do not pass all four tests, as long as the score on each test does not fall below a minimum and their cumulative score is high. English 2 scores are scheduled to be released in the fall.

The District and about half of the nation's states, including Virginia, have begun or are planning graduation exit exams, but some have delayed or reduced the requirements as students have complained about the potential to pass all their courses and still fail to receive a diploma. Legal challenges to the state laws have so far mostly failed.

Statewide in Maryland, 74.2 percent of test-takers passed algebra compared with 66.4 percent last year. The passing rate in biology increased from 57.6 percent to 67.8 percent and in government from 53.8 percent to 66.6 percent. State officials calculated that 71.5 percent of the Class of 2009 has met the algebra requirement for graduation. The figure for biology is 79.4 percent and for government 77.8 percent.

State officials said that 45 percent of all students not passing algebra attend schools in the two school systems with the largest portion of low-income students, Baltimore and Prince George's. Sixty-two percent of African American students who did not pass the algebra test attended school in those two districts.

Nancy S. Grasmick, Maryland state school superintendent, said the state has put great emphasis on training principals to work with each of their teachers and develop strategies that will help all students prepare for the tests. She said the state was also investigating ways students with learning disabilities "might demonstrate a different way of expressing mastery of the material," including presenting a collection of work done in class rather than taking the state exam.

The state and schools also have developed several online tools and tutoring programs to help students pass, and some schools have created a two-year algebra course to strengthen learning in that subject.

Results on the algebra test in the spring were particularly good in middle schools, where the strongest math students take first-year algebra in seventh or eighth grade. In Montgomery, 97 percent of middle-schoolers passed. In Calvert County, the middle school algebra passing percentage was 99 percent.

In Prince George's, 10 middle schools had 100 percent passing rates.

Last year, 44.8 percent of Montgomery students eligible for free and reduced-price meals -- generally an indicator of poverty -- passed the algebra exam; this year, that percentage jumped to 62.4 percent, even as the number of test-takers grew. Among special education students, 28.7 percent passed the algebra exam in 2005, compared with 45.9 percent this year.

Montgomery school board member Patricia O'Neill (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) said although there have been gains, she is still concerned. "I truly believe so many parents don't have a connection," she said. "When they get the scores, what does this really mean? Will the state withhold diplomas? I think there's a train wreck coming across this state."

Susan Allison of the advocacy group Marylanders Against High-Stakes Testing complained of the results arriving after school schedules were set. "Students are just now finding out whether they passed or failed a state high stakes exit exam they took last May!" she said.