Grasmick Affirms Graduation Mandate

Many educators and politicians have mixed feelings about the graduation exams. On one hand, as several state board members said, they are a guarantee that students are learning and not receiving inflated grades. On the other, they can make an entire education ride on a set of four exams.

Two bills before the General Assembly seek to mitigate what some say could result in as many as 25,000 students failing at least one of the four tests. One bill would create a task force to look at the effectiveness of the tests and present recommendations. The other would make the exams part of a weighted assessment, reducing their importance in receiving a diploma.

State school officials predict that only a handful of students will fail, but the debate hung heavy over yesterday's meeting.

The board's president, Edward L. Root, said the proposal was not made in response to moves in the General Assembly. "When they propose that legislation, they're reflecting the fear of their constituents," Root said in an interview after the meeting. "The board typically opposes state legislation because it typically fragments the authority process. I think it's better to have a united voice."

Root pointedly said: "This board is marching forward in unison. We are moving forward to change, but we will not be driven to change."

Earlier, he said, "I sometimes wonder if the opponents of this are the rear guard against high standards or the point guard of our descent into mediocrity."

Dunbar Brooks, the board's vice president, spoke strongly: "If we were to back off and say, 'Well, they may not pass,' we could doom a tremendous percentage of the population to mediocrity."

Some opponents of the tests said they do not intend to compromise. Other politicians said they thought the proposal was a step in the right direction but wanted to continue reviewing the test.

Del. Sue Kullen (D-Calvert), one of the sponsors of the bill proposing the weighted assessment system, gave the bill only a "fifty-fifty" chance of passing but said she was pleased it had started a discussion of the role of the exams in education.

"We want high accountability. We want high standards for our children, but at the same time that one-size-fits-all test does not work for Maryland children," Kullen said.

"I think every principal is just looking for direction," said Sylvester Conyers, principal of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt.

Grasmick acknowledged the difficulty of considering revisions to the tests while trying to make students aware that taking them is mandatory.

"Students ask the question that all of us ask, which is, 'Does this count?' " she said. The final answer, she said, would be yes.