The Center on Education Policy, a non-partison group that has tracked the No Child Left Behind Act since its passage, has come out with a new report on how states are doing with high school exit exams. Maryland is now in its second year of requiring that students pass the Maryland High School Assessments.

The report doesn't have any shocking news, but it does say that 22 of the 26 states now offer some alternatives for students with disabilities. And there's a growing trend among states to offer struggling students alternative assessments, different diplomas, flexible cut off scores and waivers. In Maryland, we have the bridge plan, which allows students to work on projects instead of passing the exams.

CEP also says across the nation students are more often passing their high school tests on the first try, an encouraging sign.

CEP recommends that states begin looking at increasing money for remediation of students, do a better job of collecting data on pass rates and spend some time researching the effects of the exit exams on students.