3,368 down, 802 to go
After the grading of 1,942 Bridge projects submitted in March and the acceptance of 1,800 of them, 80.8 percent of the city's senior class -- or 3,368 students -- have now met the High School Assessment requirements. Another 802 have not, but there's still the April test administration and another three chances to submit projects. Teachers are getting stipends to help about 100 seniors on algebra and biology projects during this week's spring break. And principals plan to apply for waivers for about 125 seniors, many of them in special education or learning English as a second language.
There's been a lot of progress among the seniors with disabilities, but still a long way to go if not for the waivers: Just 41.3 percent, or 161 of 390, meet requirements now, up from a single-digit pass rate last fall.
Getting to this point has been a ton of work, and school staff should brace themselves to do it again next year. Among the current juniors in the city, only a third -- 1,467 of 4,333 -- have met HSA requirements so far. This year, the city is faring better than Prince George's County, where, as of late March, 1,655 seniors (21.5 percent) were still trying to meet HSA requirements.
To give folks a sense of just how much work has been going on, I'm putting below the number of projects each city high school submitted in March and how many were accepted. Frederick Douglass High submitted the most projects: 208, of which 196 were accepted. Northwestern was No. 2, with 196 projects submitted and 181 accepted.
Officials say they expect that the only students in the city who won't graduate this year are those who wouldn't have graduated anyway: because of failed classes, missed service learning opportunities, etc. But the city has graduated about 4,000 seniors each of the past three years. To graduate 4,000 this year, all but 100 would need to get through. I understand that the size of the classes might be different, and that could skew the comparison, but I think it will be important for the public to know if, indeed, the HSA holds anyone back.
Southside Academy: 50 projects submitted, 49 accepted
Independence School: 1 project submitted, 1 accepted
Edmondson-Westside: 28 projects submitted, 26 accepted
Northwestern: 196 projects submitted, 181 accepted
Patterson: 158 projects submitted, 148 accepted
Forest Park: 98 projects submitted, 94 accepted
Mervo: 16 projects submitted, 16 accepted
Achievement Academy at Harbor City: 118 projects submitted, 114 accepted
Dunbar: 1 project submitted, 1 accepted
Digital Harbor: 11 projects submitted, 10 accepted
W.E.B. DuBois: 67 projects submitted, 63 accepted
Reginald F. Lewis: 117 projects submitted, 116 accepted
Samuel L. Banks: 80 projects submitted, 73 accepted
NAF: 2 projects submitted, 2 accepted
New Era: 4 projects submitted, 4 accepted
Baltimore Freedom Academy: 29 projects submitted, 26 accepted
Thurgood Marshall: 117 projects submitted, 109 accepted
Heritage: 47 projects submitted, 44 accepted
Doris M. Johnson: 70 projects submitted, 69 accepted
ACCE: 36 projects submitted, 24 accepted
Baltimore Talent Development: 57 projects submitted, 41 accepted
Vivien T. Thomas: 23 projects submitted, 22 accepted
Augusta Fells Savage: 49 projects submitted, 40 accepted
Maritime Industries Academy: 13 projects submitted, 13 accepted
Renaissance Academy: 34 projects submitted, 23 accepted
Homeland Security: 113 projects submitted, 105 accepted
IBE: 135 projects submitted, 132 accepted
Douglass: 208 projects submitted, 196 accepted
Carver: 51 projects submitted, 46 accepted
City College: 13 projects submitted, 13 accepted
Total: 1,942 projects submitted, 1,800 accepted
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