High School Assessments
In 2003, the Maryland State Board of Education approved a policy requiring high school students to pass the Maryland High School Assessments (HSAs) in order to graduate. These end-of-course examinations, introduced in 2002, are given in biology, algebra, English, and government. Freshmen who entered high school in 2005-06 will be required to pass them to graduate in 2009. The HSAs are considered "high-stakes" because they carry serious consequences for individual students - that is, the HSAs are used to determine whether or not a student will graduate from high school. To receive a Maryland High School Diploma, a student must pass all of the HSAs or attain a combined minimum score, even if he or she has met all other graduation requirements.
Maryland students have made progress on the HSAs since they were introduced in 2002, when only about half of all students passed them. Nonetheless, significant numbers of students continue to fail the HSAs (between 33% and 40% failed one or more of these exams in 2006) and the achievement gaps between different groups of students and regions of the state remain.
Without considerable targeted programs and services for students at risk of failing the HSAs, it is likely that tens of thousands of students will not graduate in 2009. Based on the 2006 HSA results, of the 63,000 students throughout the state who constitute the class of 2009, as many as 25,000 are at risk of failing one or more of the HSAs. To put this in perspective, only 60% of students passed the English HSA and only 67% passed the math HSA.
Students who come from underprivileged backgrounds or have not had an adequate education fail the Maryland HSAs at a higher rate than their peers. Because test results tend to reflect unequal backgrounds and opportunities, and not just individual effort, some groups of students more than others are likely to suffer negative consequences. Low-income students, students with disabilities, and minority students, primarily African Americans and Latinos, fail the HSAs at a much higher rate than their more affluent and white or Asian classmates. While about 25% of white students failed one or more of the HSAs, about 60% of African American and Latino students failed them. Over half of low-income students and two-thirds of students with disabilities failed one or more of the HSAs.
To give students with disabilities a fairer chance of passing the HSAs, MSDE may develop a modified HSA in Algebra and English, but has not yet done so. A task force to explore possible comparable assessment options for students unable to demonstrate their knowledge on the traditional HSAs released its recommendations in October 2006. Implementation is pending.
Percent of students passing the HSAs by race, special education, and low-income, 2006
