Composite scores are calculated to determine if students are eligible for schools with entrance criteria. The calculation varies for different schools, as shown below.
For high school admission, the score includes results from 7th grade and the first quarter of 8th grade. Taking honors classes or advanced programs in middle school can increase a score and make it easier to get in to some schools. Students are ranked by score and admitted in order until school capacity is reached. Students interested in Baltimore City College and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute usually need to score significantly higher than the required minimum to be admitted.
This year, because of the pandemic, the formula for calculating a student's composite score will be adjusted. Composite scores are needed for students applying to schools and programs with entrance criteria. Typically, composite scores are calculated using attendance, grades, and standardized test scores. However, in response to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent school closures, the U.S. Department of Education waived requirements for Maryland school districts to participate in annual standardized testing. Given the disparate impacts of COVID on our students and our commitment to equity, we have decided not to include attendance and standardized test scores as part of the calculation for composite scores.
Placement at Baltimore City College, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Western is calculated as follows:
Standardized test reading percentile + standardized test math percentile + (math grade x2) + (English grade x2) + (overall grade x2)