... With just two years to go until new state tests could deny diplomas to thousands of students, grass-roots opposition to Maryland's High School Assessments is growing.
Members of the Class of 2009 have been warned for several years that they will not graduate unless they pass the state exams in algebra, English, American government and biology. But a blue-ribbon panel in Prince George's County is questioning whether four tests should decide a student's future - and whether the resources are there to ensure that students have qualified teachers and time to catch up if they fail.
Montgomery County school officials have sent a white paper to the state school board outlining their concerns about the testing.
And the Maryland Coalition for Excellent Schools, a group that includes education advocates, teachers unions, local school boards and the American Civil Liberties Union, is urging the legislature to take a hard look at the issue. Several bills have been introduced in the General Assembly that would stop or at least delay the testing requirement.
Maryland Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick and the state school board say they are committed to the testing. But the first suggestion that they might back off from the plan to require the tests as a condition of graduation by 2009 came this month. Board members said they probably would delay the requirement for special education students and those with limited proficiency in English.
The state began developing the tests more than a decade ago as a way to increase standards in high school, and the exams have become a fact of life for students. Students are taking the algebra test as early as seventh grade. Most Maryland 10th-graders believe that they have no choice but to pass all four tests if they hope to graduate.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act does not require high school examinations linked to graduation. Maryland, along with 25 other states, has made them a requirement.
Potential crisis
Some administrators, teachers and parents see a potential disaster in 2009 when the first students will be told that they cannot graduate as a result of the tests.
"We felt there was an economic crisis coming to the county," said County Councilman Samuel H. Dean, who chaired the Prince George's panel.
Students who do not get a diploma won't be as prepared for jobs, Dean said, and the county's economy will suffer.
"I think there are serious enough questions to look at whether we should be using a single instrument to decide" whether a student graduates, he said.
Many of the groups raising questions are not opposed to linking graduation to passage of tests, but they contend that not all students have been given an equal chance to pass them. And they worry that some students could be denied a diploma for reasons that might have little to do with effort.
"Not every child at this moment has a highly qualified teacher or the resources they need," said Clara Floyd, president of the Maryland State Teachers Association. "I think the community and the parents are concerned that certain groups of students are at greater risk of failing."
Jim May of Calvert County learned two years ago that his child would have to pass the High School Assessments. That meant that his son, who teachers felt was at risk of failing the algebra test because of mild learning disabilities, was given a double period of math that he hated.
His son passed the test, but still worries that he might not get a diploma. May talked to teachers, administrators and his local school board and found little support for the exam.
"If it is so good, why isn't it universally accepted?" he asked. He has lobbied his state legislators, testified in Annapolis and called state school board members.
Tool or barrier?
School leaders in Montgomery County sent a strongly worded report to the State Department of Education last fall in which they outlined concerns about the High School Assessments. The white paper, prepared by county Superintendent Jerry Weast, questioned the instructional value of the tests and suggested major changes.
"With careful, considered modifications, the HSA could truly operate as intended - a measurement tool for school improvement - rather than simply a barrier to students' graduation," the report said.
Critics also note that larger numbers of blacks and Hispanics are failing the tests.
State Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, a Prince George's County Democrat and former history teacher, has introduced a bill that would set up a task force that would meet for the next year and make recommendations to the Assembly.
While the bill doesn't sound controversial, it is. The state school board sees it as another attempt by lawmakers to usurp its authority to make policy.
"Do I want to take it out of the hands of the state board? No, but there are enough questions that the legislature wants its voice added to the deliberations," Pinsky said.
He said he supports Grasmick's push for higher standards, but is not sure that a student's 13 years of education should rest on four tests.
Del. Sue Kullen, a Calvert County Democrat who has introduced a bill to reduce the importance of the tests, said: "My belief is that a one-size-fits-all test doesn't work for Maryland's children."
She hopes that her bill at least helps to start a discussion. Her fear, she said, is that parents will panic in two years when students are about to be denied diplomas and that the Assembly will be rushed to pass legislation.
In some school systems, the High School Assessments are beginning to change the high school experience.
Linda Chinnia, Baltimore's chief academic officer, said high school has started to become drudgery for students who are unable to fit in electives because they have to take double periods of English and math. Some are likely to have trouble getting the 21 credits they need for graduation, she said.
Remedial help
For students taking a full sequence of vocational courses, it can be difficult to fit remedial classes into the schedule.
Some school systems, such as Baltimore County's, offer remedial classes after school and on Saturdays. But Principal Tom Evans of Randallstown High School said only one-third of the students who need the classes attend them. In part, he said, the students need to work or do not have transportation.
He said he does not have the staff to offer enough remedial courses during the day to the large numbers of students at his school who need them. But he said the idea of delaying the assessment tests creates conflicting feelings: He believes in strong standards.
"I want kids to be competitive," he said.
The state, he said, should at least go ahead with the English and algebra exams for the Class of 2009 even if they accept a minimum score rather than the passing score.
The Maryland Association of Boards of Education supports the tests as long as there is enough money to ensure that all students who need remedial help have access to it.
The association is concerned about the "C" student who works hard and comes to school and then can't pass the test, said John R. Woolums, its director of governmental relations. And it questions whether the state has enough data on pass rates to accurately predict how many students are in danger of not getting a diploma.
State officials have said that the pass rates are high, over 70 percent in many subjects. But that is not comforting to county officials.
Woolums noted that only half of the Class of 2009 has taken the American government test and that 10th-graders will take the English test this spring.
The numbers in some systems are discouraging. In Baltimore, only 40 percent of the students for whom the algebra test counted passed it last year. That leaves more than 3,000 students in need of remedial help.
Grasmick seems to be leaving the door open to adjustments. When asked about the large numbers of students in Baltimore City and Prince George's County who are in danger of not passing, Grasmick said, "We will be looking at all of it."
liz.bowie@baltsun.com