They cover the English 10 and Algebra I PARCC Tests.
The bar is being raised for high school students in order for them to graduate. The Maryland State Board of Education has approved a specific score students must achieve in order to pass the English 10 and Algebra I tests under the Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers.
“Student who take Algebra next year and English 10 next year will be the first students affected,” says Bill Reinhard, a spokesman for the Maryland State Department of Education.
The State School Board says students must achieve a score of at least 725 on both tests starting this fall, for a total score of 1450. In 2017-18 school year, that score is 733 on the two tests for a total of 1466. The score for the two tests goes up to 741 in the 2018-19 academic year for a total of 1482. In 2019-20, students must achieve a score of at least 750 on both tests for a total of 1500.
“The belief is that if you set a bar, our kids can jump over it,” says Reinhard.
He also says if a student doesn’t achieve the scores on the English 10 or Algebra I PARCC tests, they can re-take them and the improved scores will be the ones that counts toward graduation. “We had some sort of graduation assessment requirement for nearly ten years, and no more than five students per year have ever failed to graduate statewide based on that,” he says.
Also, students who don’t achieve the minimum score on PARCC, can meet the high school graduation requirement through the Bridge Plan for Academic Validation, which is a longstanding project-based assessment.
In October, 2015, the State Education Department says fewer than half the students who took the PARCC tests met or exceeded expectation.
Currently, students are only required to take the test in order to graduate.