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The Columbus Dispatch
Are graduation
requirements for Ohio students too tough?
By Bill Bush & Catherine Candisky
With tens of thousands more Ohio high-school seniors facing the
prospect of failing to earn a diploma next year, a committee’s
recommendation that lawmakers water down the state’s new graduation
requirements is getting mixed reviews.
Without the changes, urban districts would be particularly hard-hit;
only 38 percent of juniors in Columbus City Schools are currently on
track to meet new testing requirements. More are likely to qualify
within the next year.
The district’s graduation rate under the current requirements was
almost 74 percent in the 2014-15 school year.
Statewide, about 66 percent of juniors are on track to graduate next
year. That compares with a statewide graduation rate last year of 83
percent, meaning that as of right now, about 23,000 fewer students
statewide would earn a diploma next year.
Beginning with the Class of 2018 — this year’s juniors — students must
accumulate at least 18 points out of a possible 36 on seven
end-of-course tests to graduate. They also have the option of getting a
“remediation-free” score on a college entrance exam, or obtaining an
industry credential indicating they are ready for a job.
With a third of juniors at risk of not graduating, the state Board of
Education appointed a review committee in December to look at options.
Rather than lower the test points needed to graduate, the panel this
week recommended awarding seniors who fall short extra credit for such
things as having good attendance or working while going to school.
The new proposal “is the right direction to recognizing a more holistic
approach to student achievement,” Columbus district spokesman Scott
Varner said, because testing alone doesn’t identify potential success
for college or work.
“We’ve been supportive of these efforts,” Varner said.
Under the committee’s plan, students could still graduate if they:
complete required high-school courses, take all end-of-course exams and
meet any two of six criteria: 93 percent attendance during senior year;
2.5 grade-point average senior year; complete a capstone project; 120
hours of work or community service; complete a College Credit Plus
course; or complete an International Baccalaureate or
advanced-placement test.
“In other words, kids come to school, they do well in their classes,
they’re going to get credit for that,” said John Haswell,
superintendent of the Shadyside schools district in eastern Ohio, on
the Ohio River about 5 miles south of Wheeling, West Virginia. “Doing
poorly on one standardized test can wipe out an entire year. That can’t
happen.”
Haswell likes that the proposal would give points for keeping a 2.5
grade-point average in a student’s senior year and for having a 93
percent attendance rate.
A 2.5 GPA, “that’s the average student,” Haswell said. The high-stakes
graduation tests are hurting the average kids, “the backbone of the
country.”
“Sometimes the truth hurts, and I think what came out of there
yesterday was” that high-stakes testing is wrong for Ohio, Haswell said.
Critics of the proposed changes argue that Ohio’s new graduation
requirements raised benchmarks to ensure that students graduating high
school are prepared to succeed for college or career.
“We essentially make the diploma a participation diploma. I don’t want
a bunch of students left out but districts have had five years to
prepare for this,” said Chad Aldis, vice president for Ohio policy and
advocacy for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an Ohio education think
tank.
Recognizing that large numbers of students might fall short, Fordham
has proposed dual diplomas — one for students who meet minimum credit
requirements and other local requirements, the other a state diploma
reflecting college and career readiness.
Students would still strive for the state diploma, he said, rather than
giving them an out.
“We keep making excuses on why kids can’t learn. If we do what they are
proposing, a diploma means nothing — we’re watering it down even
further,” said former state Board of Education President Tom Gunlock.
“I feel like I wasted six years of my life (on the board). We need to
get better but watering down the requirements isn’t the answer ... we
always err on the side of adults. We’re (school districts and the
state) going to look great, all our kids are going to graduate.
“But we send all these kids to college and they need remediation or
drop out because they can’t do the work.”
Tougher standards were sought because about 40 percent of Ohio
high-school graduates need remedial work at state colleges and
universities.
The plan must be approved by the General Assembly. Legislative leaders
are expected to review the proposal and other ideas later this spring.
Read this and other articles at The Columbus Dispatch
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