Diploma

A decade after the state began putting in place a more rigorous standard for getting a high school diploma, only 2 percent or less of the senior class will not be walking across the stage because they failed to pass the requirement, which is in its first year. State education officials said yesterday that the latest data show about 1,275 students out of a class of 54,000 probably won't graduate in June because they haven't passed the four subject tests or done projects to make up for their lack of knowledge in those subjects.

While some state and school officials seem optimistic that thousands of seniors will meet new state graduation requirements by May, the task for some schools is much more challenging than for others. More than half of the 4,660 students who are in danger of not getting diplomas because they have not passed the High School Assessments live in Baltimore City or Prince George's County and are concentrated in a couple of dozen high schools. In Baltimore County, the pass rates varied so widely that at one school - Eastern Technology - every senior had met the requirement while at another, Dundalk, nearly a quarter had not. Many of those seniors were striving to complete projects that proved they had mastered the material or were studying for a retake of tests to be offered in April and May. Beginning this year, the Class of 2009 must pass four exams in biology, algebra, American government and English II or meet alternative requirements to get a diploma.

Waivers undermine value of a diploma I am appalled by the position of state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, the State Board of Education and The Baltimore Sun's editorial board supporting waivers allowing graduation for those who do not pass the High School Assessment tests ("A necessary compromise," editorial, Dec. 19). Apparently, none of these people have the stomach to stand and take the heat and face the screaming parents of those students who might not pass the test and then could not graduate, so they support a process that will, in effect, buy them off. By taking this approach, "mandatory" testing ceases to be mandatory, and the diplomas of all of those who did take and pass all required tests are devalued.

The Maryland State Board of Education is expected to adopt an emergency regulation today to allow superintendents to waive passage of the high school assessment as a graduation requirement in certain circumstances. The superintendents in each district would gain the power to rescue hundreds of students who would not graduate from high school in June because they have been unable to pass four subject exams or complete projects. Some educators had raised concerns that whole groups of students in certain school systems had not taken government until their senior year and might not have enough time to take the test and get extra help if they failed.

Before Maryland school officials mandated last week that all students, regardless of grades, pass the High School Assessments or risk not getting a diploma, the tests were without real consequence. Not like the SATs or the ACT, mega tests that determine the college you attend. Students knew that. And that helps explain why, with the new mandate, passage rates in Anne Arundel County for the Class of 2009 increased markedly from the Class of 2008, 16 percent to 30 percent on the four required tests.

Nearly 92 percent of Anne Arundel County's high school seniors have met state-mandated standardized testing guidelines, which for the first time this year are required to receive a diploma, according to recently released statistics from the state. Nearly 4,000 county seniors have passed the annual High School Assessments, which are designed to help the state measure progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The 92 percent passage rate among seniors in Anne Arundel trails Carroll, Harford and Howard counties by between 1 and 3 percentage points, but is 8 points higher than the state average, 7 points higher than Baltimore County and 10 points higher than Montgomery County.

Today, the Maryland State of Board of Education meets to consider whether to delay a long-anticipated plan to make the statewide High School Assessment tests a requirement for a diploma. Critics of the rule say it's unfair to students who for one reason or another don't test well but who otherwise meet all the requirements for graduation. Proponents argue the tests are essential for raising academic standards and turning out better-prepared graduates for college and the workplace. But the evidence on both sides is at best inconclusive.

He graduated from the Naval Academy and made a mark in the community as an architect and engineer, serving as president of several development companies. He served on county committees, hosted a political fundraiser for state Sen. John A. Cade and became the longest-serving trustee at Anne Arundel Community College. But for more than 30 years, it gnawed at Robert J. DiAiso that he had largely completed his doctoral studies but didn't have a degree to show for it. The Anne Arundel County resident said he contacted an Internet-based company about three years ago to see if he could put the finishing touches on it. "It was one bit of unfinished business," he said.

Baltimore's high school graduation rate has been found wanting yet again - an abysmal 35 percent and fourth lowest among the nation's 50 largest districts, according to a new study. Even worse, the gap between the city's rate and the 82 percent rate in neighboring suburban districts was the nation's largest. State and city education officials are challenging the calculations - and even have two different calculations of their own. But they rightfully concede that whatever the numbers, they are far too low. Beyond Baltimore, the lack of urgency to help more students finish high school is apparent in similarly disturbing statistics across the country.

Gov. Martin O'Malley wants Maryland to have a more comprehensive work force development system. He would transfer adult education programs within the state Department of Education to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which is trying to match potential workers with jobs in a rapidly changing economy. But those functions don't have to be mutually exclusive - at least not yet. What's needed may not be a wholesale transfer, but more focused collaboration between the two agencies.