With three months left in the school year, more than 8 percent of Maryland seniors are at risk of not graduating, education officials said Tuesday in releasing the first precise count of how well the Class of 2009 is meeting the High School Assessments.
This year's seniors are the first who have been required to pass four tests in biology, English II, American government and algebra or do extra projects to prove they have mastered the material before getting a diploma.
Despite the large number - 4,660 students in a class of 53,000 - officials told the state school board that they are confident that most will qualify by retaking tests in April or May, completing the projects or getting waivers. Special education students and those who are learning English as a second language are at the greatest risk of not graduating.
Schools are working urgently to see that students complete projects in subjects in which they have failed tests. One city high school principal, Northwestern's Jason Hartling, said his staff is working at night and on Saturdays to try to get seniors on track.
About 800 projects are to be graded this weekend in Baltimore alone as well as hundreds in other counties. Based on projects evaluated earlier, the expectation is that about 80 percent of the submissions are being accepted. Graders include teachers and administrators from outside the schools.
"The vast majority of students have a chance to graduate in May," said R. Scott Pfiefer, the state's director of instructional assessment. He went further, predicting that the state's graduation rate could increase this spring compared with last year.
The new requirement, some department officials said, might have boosted the effort of some schools to give extra help to students who were lagging behind.
"Students can no longer hide in the back of the classroom," said Leslie Wilson, who is head of testing for the state.
Wilson said that the dropout rate is lower and that fewer high school students statewide are not passing from one grade to the next, a sign that they are meeting requirements.
State school board members did not express any alarm at the figures and appeared to be satisfied that only a small percentage of students might not graduate. The presentation Tuesday at the board meeting was the first time the state gave more than an estimate of those in the Class of 2009 who have yet to pass the HSA.
