The state contends that the assessment did not have a detrimental effect on students because the statewide dropout rate fell for last year's seniors to 2.6 percent, from 3.4 percent the year before.
Few students were held back in part because the state, after contentious discussion among state board members and education advocates, put in stopgap measures that would help more students pass. In October, 9,000 students across the state, or about 17 percent of the Class of 2009, were at risk of not getting a diploma.
That month, the state board defeated a motion to delay the requirement after five hours of emotional debate, but it did give school systems the ability to offer waivers of the requirement for students with special circumstances. In some cases, they were students who had not taken courses in the right sequence and didn't have enough time to get extra help to pass the test, were in special education or had a personal crisis, such as the death of a parent. Some 531 students were given waivers, including 103 in the city.
One of the ways that the state could tighten the requirements would be to reduce the number of students eligible for the waiver, a move Grasmick said she expected to make this school year.
In addition to the waivers, students could choose to make up for failing any of the tests by doing a "bridge" project. The state also has the option of making those projects more difficult. But Grasmick said that the projects done by the Class of 2009 were not meaningless and that a high level of standards were in place because two state officials spot-checked the projects to make sure school systems were not passing students who shouldn't be passed.
School superintendents and state officials say many schools gave struggling students the attention they had lacked for years, which improved the chances that everyone would meet the requirement and graduate. The graduation rate did not fall in Maryland this year, as it has in some states that instituted high-stakes testing. For example, in Howard County, no student failed to meet the requirement and the graduation rate rose to its all-time high of 94.87 percent.
In Baltimore, the number of students who graduated went up, the number of dropouts went down and no student did not graduate because of the testing requirement.
The city's graduation rate for 2009 is officially 62 percent, the same as last year. However, the state's formula does not count students who dropped out and returned to graduate. If those students were included, the city's graduation rate would be 4 percentage points higher.
