See previous posted article about this proposal to lower the graduation requirements for a very few students in special cases. Maria
Updated: 6/18/2008 6:02:01 PM
Lower standard for graduation should be rare
The issue: An Eau Claire school district proposal to allow some students to graduate from high school with 16 credits instead of 22.
Our view: This option should be used sparingly to protect the integrity of high school diplomas.
Lower standard for graduation should be rare
Three words are crucial to a proposal that would allow some Eau Claire public high school students to graduate with 16 credits rather than the 22 now needed to earn a diploma: "On rare occasions."
School district administrators have proposed the change to the school board to help a very small number of students who fall behind in their first year or two of high school. They may fall behind because of a serious illness, home-schooling or even because they were homeless. School officials say the current system - which requires such students to take seven classes during the school day and spend extra time in off-campus programs to catch up and meet the 22-credit requirement - is insurmountable for some.
"This expectation is overwhelming to most students, and therefore, they typically do not remain engaged in a high school program," Memorial High School Principal Tim Leibham told the school board Monday night. The board ultimately will decide whether to approve the 16-credit option.
The board must weigh the desire to help students who have fallen behind through no fault of their own against the importance of protecting what a diploma from North or Memorial high schools represents. That's why if this proposal is approved it should be used only on rare occasions, and not to allow unmotivated or chronically truant students to use the lower standard to bail themselves out.
There are safeguards in the program to prevent this, and it's important they are enforced. Those seeking an exemption would have to pass all of their courses the semester before being admitted to the 16-credit track, and they would have to continue passing all courses once enrolled. They also would have to demonstrate that "unique personal circumstances or situations" led to their credit deficiency. School officials must be strict in how they interpret "unique."
District administrative approval would be required after discussions with the student, his or her parents and high school administrators. Those accepted could not use the lower requirement to graduate early, and they also wouldn't be eligible for scholarships based distinctly on class rank or grade-point average. They and their parents would sign memos acknowledging that the 16-credit option may prevent admission into some colleges even though the 16 credits meet state graduation requirements.
Fred Weissenburger, the school district's director of student services, summed up the main concern well: "We want to be careful that this doesn't become something that's aspirational, something that students are striving for, because that would be really lowering the bar, and we're not proposing to do that."
This program is worth a try, but the school board and administrators need to monitor it closely to ensure it is used sparingly in truly unique circumstances so it doesn't cheapen the 22-credit diploma and the effort put forth by those who achieve it.
- Don Huebscher, editor
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6 comments:
I think there should be a 16 credit option available for special cases much as described here, but I would like to see a lttle more flexibity in its implementation.
The requirement that the student have passing grades the semester before being accepted in the program raises some questions about just how exclusive this program would be,
There may well be circumstances where this requirement should be waived. The student who does have passing grades that semester is already on the way to recovery and it may not be in his/her best interests to restrict college entrance possibilites, at least not without some plan for transition to a college that understands and agrees to the situation.
The presentaion did protest too much that it was not going to let students get by with something and wasn't convincing that it was flexible enough to be a real value as a tool to assist students who needed this help.
I am always suspicious of "defensive" presentations, but then I suppose with Don H
kibitizing, that's the way one has to go.
The more I think about this one, the more suspicious I get.
What, for example, are the specific circumstances that are not covered by the alternative programs we have in place now that would require this new one? Which cracks are students falling through?
Some aspects of the program seem well designed (the passing grade the semester before) to be able to accommodate the student who is performing well academically but might like to move into one or another of the junior hockey leagues and get a leg up on admittance to one of the hightly regarded schools with upper level hockey programs where number of high school credits would not be a relevant criteria for scholarship and entrance?
Is there any relationship between this and the formation of a new junior hockey league in the state?
Not that this would be a big problem, but I always like to know why we are doing what we are doing and after studying school policies have not developed a strong trust in stated motives especially in cases where presentations appear to protest too much.
Am I in danger of turning into another one of the "knee jerk" critics that dominste the school related news blogs?
Jim, this was proposed a couple of years ago but never implemented. Not all degrees are created equal, if I recall the 16 credit degree would not get you into a four year college, although it would work at a technical college. It would also get you into the military at a time when the military was pickier about who they accepted than they are now.
Degrees from McKinley Charter are still another kettle of fish. I saw one where the words 'high school' did not appear and it was not obvious what it represented.
Bob,
I think you just answered my last question. Thanks.
Regardless of the current 16 credit proposal. I wonder if the tendency for high school hockey athletes to
join various junior league teams before graduation is going to create a new type of high school "drop-out"
and what effect that is going to have.
I know the league coming to eau claire is going to insist that their players without high school degrees
enrol in a local high school and work to compete
their high school education.
This raises all kinds of questions. For example, what happens if their play deteriorates and they are dropped from the team?
As a parent and taxpayer, I too have questioned the basis of this proposal. There is already a process in place to identify "at risk' students (McKinley Charter School).
Could this proposal be tied in with the NCLB measurement of graduation rates instead? By offering a "mini-diploma" those students would not count against the drop-out rate and thus artificially increase our district high school grad rates to appear to meet the benchmark and avoid sanctions.
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