The following is testimony provided by Dr. Jerry, D. Weast, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, at the October 28, 2008, meeting of the Maryland State Board of Education.
The testimony addresses implementation of the High School Assessments as a graduation requirement for the Class of 2009.


Testimony Before the Maryland State Board of Education
Dr. Jerry D. Weast, Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools
October 28, 2008

Thank you, Mr. DeGraffenreidt, members of the Board of Education, and Dr. Grasmick for this opportunity to testify about the implementation of the High School Assessments as a graduation requirement for students in the Class of 2009.

I know that we are all in agreement that we need a strong accountability system that ensures that a Maryland diploma means something, and we all believe we are acting in the best interests of children. We simply have differences of opinion as to what that accountability system should look like. While I speak to you today about delaying the High School Assessment requirement until the bugs can be worked out, I actually want to ask you to consider using a better measure of student success.

Let’s think about doing what six states have already done—using the ACT or a similar rigorous assessment as a requirement for high school graduation. The ACT may be the best known provider of assessments that can, with a variety of instruments, assess workforce and college readiness against nationally normed standards. When Dr. Grasmick began the High School Assessment journey ten years ago, Maryland was at the forefront of the movement, and she is to be commended for that. We know more now than we did then about what kids need to be able to do when they leave us after 13 years. I think it’s fair to say that the HSAs don’t provide a true measurement of what students need to know to be successful in college or the world of work.

Don’t just listen to me. Listen to Harvard Education Professor Tony Wagner who in the current issue of Educational Leadership advocated for a combination of locally developed assessments and nationally normed online tests such as the College and Work Readiness Assessment, noting that far too much instructional time now is devoted to “drilling for the test.” It’s time, he says, “for our profession to advocate for accountability systems that will enable us to teach and test the skills that matter most. Our students’ futures are at stake.”

In Montgomery County, we have high expectations for all of our students and have built our curriculum around a rigorous set of standards. We believe that any culminating assessment should be tied to high standards that help parents answer this fundamental question: When my son or daughter graduates on Monday, what is he or she prepared to do on Tuesday?

My teachers, principals and parents have confirmed my opinion that the HSAs as currently constituted don’t answer that question. Many staff members and parents don’t believe the tests are fair or meaningful and do believe that the graduation requirement should be delayed until this basic threshold can be met.

If the HSAs were delayed for even a year, we could explore one of these challenging pathways, or another, to the benefit of our children and our state, local, and national economies. We simply cannot afford not to give our children the absolute best preparation possible to thrive in the competitive, interlinked global economy.

We have worked with the state to address the flaws in the High School Assessment program, but despite our best efforts, serious flaws remain in the current program:

The tests students in the Class of 2009 have been required to pass are significantly different from those that would be required of future classes. Current students have to take a written component but future tests will only include multiple choice questions.

The Modified High School Assessments for eligible special education students were piloted—without prior field testing—for the very first time in May 2008, putting extraordinary pressure on special education teachers and students. These Mod-HSAs need considerable retooling to establish an accurate baseline against which to measure student achievement. Out of the 840 special education students in Montgomery County, 343 are still at risk and have not met the HSA requirements. That’s 41 percent.

The Bridge Plan alternative to High School Assessments is being developed simultaneously with implementation, with guidelines changing monthly. The impact on teachers is overwhelming because of the hours it takes to oversee these projects. Since it will be locally evaluated, the state can no longer contend that this is a standardized state assessment. Interestingly, students who complete bridge projects don’t actually have to complete a project in an area of weakness to get credit. They can actually do the project in an area of strength. That doesn’t seem to me to serve the ultimate purpose of an assessment.

It is also important to point out that in a time when all of us are facing budgetary crises, districts are scrambling for funds, resources, and staffing. In Montgomery County, where we are in a budget freeze due to an enormously tight budget, the Bridge Plan will cost over $1 million.

I am also deeply troubled by the impact of the HSA graduation requirement on students with limited English proficiency. Out of the 484 seniors with limited English proficiency, only 32 have met their HSA requirements. And we have about 45 percent of all the state's students with limited English proficiency. Across the state, only 47% of these students passed the Algebra HSA in 2007 and 28% the English 2 HSA. We want to give these students the support they need to be successful and to help them get a high school diploma. Since there is no adaptation of the test for language needs, I fear that many of these students will ultimately decide to drop out due to frustration and not stay in school to get the education they need.


What purpose would be served by a delay in implementation of the graduation requirement, which we believe is the right course of action at this point? It would allow educators to revisit the value and purpose of the tests we have and to take an objective look at alternatives that would provide students with a credible, portable credential that can inform colleges, employers, and students themselves about their contemporary skills and knowledge. Maryland has invested time and resources to develop local assessments that are not what we had hoped they could be. We would be foolish to continue to tread a path that leads us nowhere. Other states are moving ahead to provide their children with better information to judge their post-secondary options. It’s a perfect time to learn from their experiences as we have learned from our own experiences of the last ten years. It is an optimal time to consider a change of course. As a wise soul once said about opportunity, "The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."