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Nearly 80 percent of all Prince George's County public high school seniors have passed the High School Assessments that the state now requires for graduation, a rate nearly 15 percentage points higher than last year.

"We are continuing to see our students more prepared than ever for the next phase of their lives following high school — be it college or a career," School Board Chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs said in a statement after the HSA results were released Sept. 22.

However, Jacobs cautioned that "there is more work to be done." Among all 23 Maryland counties and Baltimore city, Prince George's public schools ranked third-worst in HSA passing rates.

This year, 16 of 22 Prince George's County public high schools made Adequate Yearly Progress, a state education department benchmark that uses HSA passing rates to measure proficiency in reading, math and science.

Three high schools that made AYP exited school improvement status: Friendly High School in Fort Washington, Forestville Military Academy and Parkdale High School in Riverdale. Schools are put in improvement status if they miss AYP for two consecutive school years and then can be required to make various changes, such as implementing professional development for teachers or replacing staff.

Four high schools are poised to exit school improvement next year if they make AYP again, said Tanzi West Barbour, spokeswoman for Prince George's County Public Schools. These schools are Bladensburg High School, Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Crossland High School in Temple Hills and Largo High School.

"We are headed in the right direction. Schools are continuing to make AYP and exit school improvement," said Superintendent William Hite Jr. in a statement after results were released.

Crossland High Principal Charles Thomas said he is very pleased that his school met AYP.

"I think it's a tribute to our students and our staff and our parents," Thomas said. "I think that they've all accepted academic challenges and worked very hard to achieve them. I'm confident we'll continue to meet our academic goals."

Thomas said the school has made AYP for the past two out of three years.

Largo High School made AYP this year for the first time ever.

"It's awesome — I'm so excited that our hard work is paying off," said Principal Angelique Simpson-Marcus. "For Largo, what it shows for us is our hard work has really paid off."

In 2009, 79.9 percent of Prince George's County high school juniors, who are now seniors, and 69.9 percent of Prince George's County high school sophomores, who are now juniors, have taken and met the requirement for the algebra, English, biology and government tests, according to the Maryland Report Card Web site. In 2008, 65 percent of county high school seniors passed the HSA.

Statewide, Calvert County has the highest percentage of students who have passed the HSA, at 97.8 percent; only 69.8 percent of Baltimore city high school seniors and 77.9 percent of Kent County seniors have passed the tests.

Maryland schools' Class of 2009 was the first group of students required to pass four exams to earn a diploma or earn a combined score of 1602. Students who failed an exam at least twice can instead complete a project related to the test they failed to graduate.

Only 11 seniors statewide didn't graduate in 2009 because they failed the HSAs, according to the Maryland State Department of Education.

For a list of the county's HSA results by high school, visit

www.mdreportcard.org.