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. The English 2 HSA replaced the English 1 HSA in Academic Year 2005. 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. All students entering 9th grade in the 2014-2016 school years 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. Maryland transitioned to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) in the school year 2014-2015 and starting in 2015-2016, students could meet graduation assessment requirements through either the PARCC or HSA. During the transition to PARCC, students could meet the graduation assessment requirement through participation only in English and Algebra/data analysis.

Information about the High School Graduation Requirements can be found at: http://www.marylandpublicschoo...

Each assessment test covers about 60% of a course’s content, and takes approximately two and one-half to three hours to complete. In 2016, the percentage of students passing in Algebra decreased slightly to 83.2%, the Biology subject decreased to 83.5%, and English decreased slightly from 2015 to 78.7%. 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, the Bridge Plan for Academic Validation offers alternatives to the assessment.

Achievement information for schools, school systems, and the State will continue to be published in the annual Maryland Report Card.

The percent of public school students in grades 9 through 12 performing at the passing level on English 2 Maryland High School Assessment (HSA).