By Megan Werden ’17

A law passed in 2013 now requires all high school students in Maryland to be assessed to determine whether they are college or career ready by the end of their junior year. There will then be additional coursework required in senior year for those who did not meet the target. In addition to this, students in the current sophomore class and subsequent classes will be required to take four years of high school math.

This law, called the College and Career Readiness and College Completion Act is a “comprehensive legislation to ensure that Maryland’s students are ready for college and the workforce — and really, life — after high school,” stated House of Delegates Majority Leader Anne R. Kaiser, one of the sponsors of the bill, in a jointly prepared statement. “Whether a student’s goal is to enter the work force directly, attend a community college, go to a four year institution, or complete postsecondary training to prepare for a hands-on technical career, there are certain skills and knowledge that every student must learn in high school to be successful.”

If a student does not attain the required scores, he/she will have to complete some type of remediation or transitional class in his/her senior year. The new cutline scores for the SAT and ACT are 500 and 21, respectively. The Accuplacer cutline score has not yet been determined.

“The remediation classes would be the same thing as if a student did not have their tech credit, and they would fit it in as needed,” said Assistant Secondary Administrator Sapna Chaudhry. “[The remediation classes] would also, hopefully, be customized to the students’ needs.”

The school administration is unclear on how the classes will be scheduled and what the nature of the classes will be.

“A lot of this has not been defined as it has been rolled out. We have no idea what the transitional class will look like, because the county doesn’t know what it looks like,” explained Principal Bill Gregory. As to the intent of the law, Gregory believes taking additional math classes after Algebra II and taking college preparation tests will get students out of their comfort zones, and allow multiple opportunities for students to prepare for their futures.

Students, on the other hand, are unsure of the new requirements. “I think it will help a lot because seniors will be prepared for college, but I don’t think it’s entirely fair. My brother who went to this school didn’t have to do that, so since students in the past didn’t have to do it we shouldn’t have to,” said sophomore Robert Sanchez.