PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. (Sept. 24, 2009)—All Calvert County public school students in the class of 2009 met Maryland’s high school testing requirements in algebra, biology, English and government. This was the first class required to meet the High School Assessment (HSA) requirement in order to graduate.
Students can meet the HSA graduation requirement through four avenues - by passing all four exams, by obtaining a combined score of 1602 on the four tests, by completing Bridge projects to show mastery in the subject area, or by obtaining a waiver. Calvert County HSA results show that 89.5% of the 2009 graduating seniors passed all four exams, 8.6% passed through the combined score option, 1.9% completed projects, and no students were granted waivers.
On Monday, September 21, the Maryland State Department of Education also released student graduation and dropout rates.
The graduation rate for Calvert public schools increased from 87.72% five years ago to 91.99% in 2009. Over the same time period, the graduation rate for African-American students increased from 84.62% to 93.04% and the dropout rate for all students declined from 2.4% to 1.6%.
HSA results for English and algebra are also used to determine whether individual high schools are making adequate yearly progress toward meeting the No Child Left Behind requirement that all students and all subgroups of students meet or exceed state learning standards in reading and math by 2014.
Calvert High School did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in 2009 in the area of reading for the students with disabilities subgroup. Since Calvert High made AYP in all areas in 2008, the school is considered by the state department to be a school in need of local attention and is not subject to state intervention. Schools that do not make AYP for two consecutive years in the same subject and NCLB subgroup enter the state’s prescribed pathway of interventions.
The state department also determined that Calvert Country School, a kindergarten through grade 12 special education center, did not make AYP in the area of student attendance. Calvert Country School’s attendance rate for 2009 was 85.2% which did not reach the required rate of 93.5%. Attendance is an additional measure used by the state to determine a school’s progress.
Students in Calvert County’s class of 2010 - this year’s seniors - are well positioned to meet all HSA graduation requirements. So far, the pass rates for this class are 96.5% for algebra, 97.4% for biology, 93.0% for English, and 98.0% for government.
For more information, visit www.mdreportcard.org.
Source: Calvert Count Public School System