Gazette: Hundreds of county high schoolers take alternative graduation path

Bridge Program an option for those struggling to pass exams

by Jen Bondeson

For the past two years, Watkins Mill High School teacher Sandy Young has helped dozens of students meet their graduation requirements through means other than standardized tests.
Young is one of a group of teachers helping with the county’s Bridge Program, which in 2009 began offering high school students an alternative path to graduation other than the state-mandated High School Assessments. Students must pass the exams in algebra/data analysis, English, biology and government (this test will no longer be required next year) or use the Bridge Plan to complete a project aligned with the test subjects.
The Bridge Plan allows students to show what they know in creative ways, such as pamphlets and PowerPoints no filling in bubbles with No. 2 pencils required, said Scott Pfeifer, director of instructional assessment and teacher effectiveness for the state Department of Education...