City schools CEO Andr?s Alonso said the city supported having the testing requirement and worked hard to make sure that students had access to good support and help to pass the tests. The result, he said, was that about 200 more students graduated this year than last.
In Baltimore County, five of the 7,736 seniors in the Class of 2009 did not graduate solely because of the HSA requirement as of June, school officials said.
"That's a monumental achievement for us," Superintendent Joe A. Hairston said.
The district saw its graduation rate rise - to 83.56 percent, up from 82.21 percent in 2008 - and its dropout rate decrease to 3.74 percent, from 4.34 percent the previous year, said Kara E. B. Calder, a schools spokeswoman.
Hairston, who supported making the state tests a graduation requirement, said he continues to advocate that position, because it is "important to hold [students] to a high standard so they can be ... prepared to move on to a higher level of education."
"These sets of standards, albeit minimal, are one component of a suite of standards," Hairston said, also citing state and national standards such as graduation rates and the Advanced Placement program.
Grasmick said that in the next several months, the state will look at whether it should increase the standards in algebra II and science. Such a change would be part of a move by dozens of states to agree to national standards and tests. A draft of the national standards for high school was released Monday.
In Anne Arundel County, Annapolis High School's assessment testing results caused it to make adequate yearly progress for the second consecutive year, allowing the school to move from school improvement, a major achievement for the once-struggling urban high school.
Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell and Principal Donald Lilley thanked teachers and staff, who celebrated with an apple cider toast, for their successful efforts.
"Rarely, if ever, do you see the kind of turnaround that you see here," Maxwell told the crowd. "It is your dedication, your hard work, your belief in the children in your classroom. This is one of the proudest days of my entire life."
The state plans to release school-by-school assessment results today.
Baltimore Sun reporters Arin Gencer, Nicole Fuller and John-John Williams IV contributed to this article.
Breakdown of HSA results
Number of students in the Class of 2009 who:
* passed all four tests: 41,066
* earned the combined minimum score: 9,617
* completed "bridge" projects: 3,481
* received waivers: 531
* entered high school before 2005: 3,418
* had special circumstances, such as foreign exchange students: 863
* received special-education certificates: 722
Total who met HSA requirement: 59,698
Number of students in the Class of 2009 who:
* failed to meet the HSA requirement only: 11
* failed to meet HSA and other requirements: 2,280
* entered high school before 2005 and did not meet HSA requirement: 1,467
Total who failed to meet HSA requirement: 3,758
