High School Assessment

Definition:
The percentage of public school students in grades 9 through 12 performing at the passing level in three or four core subjects of the Maryland High School Assessment (HSA):  Algebra, Biology, English 2, and Government.

Data Source: Data compiled by the Maryland State Department of Education

Story Behind the Data:

The achievement of minimum academic standards affects graduation, adult achievement, future academic pursuits, and ultimately contributes to the competitiveness of Maryland’s workforce.  Students take each High School Assessment (HSA) at the completion of the corresponding course. Accordingly, students may take these exams during any high school grade. In 2004, the State Board of Education ruled that, beginning with the class of 2009, public school students must pass the High School Assessments (HSA) to graduate.

On April 24, 2012, the State Board approved the reinstatement of the Government HSA as a graduation requirement. The entering 9^th graders in the 2013-2014 school year are required to pass or obtain a combined score of 1602 on the four high school assessments, algebra/data analysis, English, biology, and government to meet the graduation requirement. The first administration of the Government HSA in the 2013-2014 school year was a January 2014 administration.

Each assessment test covers about 60% of a course’s content, and takes approximately two and one-half to three hours to complete. In 2014, the percentage of students passing in Algebra remained the same as 2013, Biology subject areas increased from 82.6% to 84.6%, and English decreased slightly from the 2013 percentage of students passing the HSAs. For students who do not pass the HSA, additional instruction is available through the local school systems and students may retake the assessment multiple times. For students unable to pass the HSA after two attempts, the Bridge Plan for Academic Validation offers alternatives to the assessment.

As Maryland implements the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) assessments, beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, the HSA exams in English 10 and Algebra/Data Analysis will be replaced by PARCC assessments in English 10 and Algebra.  As in previous years, however, all students must still pass the Government and Biology HSAs in order to graduate.  Achievement information for schools, school systems, and the State will continue to be published in the annual Maryland Report Card.