State considers stiffer high school graduation requirements

State poised to toughen graduation standards, but can’t afford most yet

DAN HANSEN; The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review
Last updated: July 22nd, 2008 06:17 AM (PDT)

But students might not notice a difference.

That’s because the so-called Core 24 requirements would not take effect until the Legislature comes up with money to pay for them. Educators say the state already falls about $1 billion short of meeting its mandate to finance basic education.

One exception: The board is expected this week to adopt a required third math credit starting with the Class of 2013. And that class will have to be at the level of Algebra II or above.

“That’s a huge change,” said Kathe Taylor, policy director for the Board of Education. “Two credits of math have been the requirement for 23 years, and it could be any math.”

In most districts, one credit is equal to one full-year course or two one-semester courses.

Noncredit graduation requirements would not change under Core 24, named for the number of credits that would be required for graduation. Neither would WASL testing.

Every Washington school district has graduation requirements exceeding the 19 credits currently required by the state, Taylor said.

But the mix of required courses is sometimes far different from the Core 24 requirements.

The Tacoma School District requires 23 credits, including 8.5 electives and two years of math. Under the proposal, it would need to add one credit each of math, science and fine arts and a half-credit each of social studies and physical education. Students would need one-half credit less of health.

If the proposal becomes required, district spokeswoman Leanna Albrecht said, “The district would need to adjust its staffing, master scheduling and proportion of its course offerings. There’d be a reduction in career technical and elective courses.”

Not all districts require specific math classes.

The Bethel School District, for instance, requires two years of math, such as algebra or geometry, and one math elective.

School officials wonder where the extra certified math teachers will be found for the new algebra requirement. The Professional Educators Standards Board is studying that issue and will go to the Legislature with recommendations that could include incentives for becoming a math teacher, said Maureen Trantham, communications director for the nonprofit Partnership for Learning, which supports Core 24.

And educators say the state will need to provide a lot more money if Core 24 is fully implemented.

The state now pays for five periods of instruction because that’s enough to fulfill 19 credits. Yet most districts – including Tacoma and Bethel – provide six with the help of local levy dollars.

“We know that we need more rigor. We’re attempting to inject it into our curriculum, but the state has to fund the requirements,” said Brenda Rogers, president of the Bethel School Board.

Bethel, which encompasses the Spanaway, Parkland, Roy, Graham and Frederickson communities, already requires 22.5 credits, including five electives. “Increased graduation requirements can’t be done at the expense of programs we already have working such as the fine arts, career and technical education and other electives,” Rogers said. “The school day has to be expanded and funded.”

Besides significantly limiting students’ flexibility in choosing courses, more teens would need to take summer school, online courses or another route to make up failed courses, Tacoma and Bethel officials said.

“The way we have it now, you could fail a couple classes and still graduate on time,” said Ann Varkados, Bethel’s assistant superintendent of curriculum. “With the new (proposed) requirements, you’d have to pass every class and, they’d be rigorous classes. There’d be no place for more remedial or catchup classes.

“There’d have to be some support built in for kids who are not successful.”

Already, the main hurdle to graduating on time is failing to earn required credits, not this year’s new mandate to pass portions of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning or an alternative, Varkados said.

“I’m not opposed to raising the number of required credits, but how are we going to support credit-deficient students who don’t have as much flexibility within the regular day?”

Advocates of Core 24 contend that as things now stand, a student could graduate unprepared for either college or the work force, unless he’s guided by knowledgeable adults. Or, as it’s stated in a Board of Education report, “current state requirements don’t prepare a student for anything.”

The Partnership for Learning recently bought newspaper ads noting that graduation standards haven’t changed since “the advent of the ‘brick’ mobile phone, Microsoft’s Windows 1.0, and the first appearance of compact discs” in 1985.

Thirty-seven states and Washington, D.C., have stiffer graduation requirements than Washington, said Taylor. Idaho requires 23 credits and Oregon requires 24.

News Tribune staff writer Debby Abe contributed to this report.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

The Washington State Board of Education meets Wednesday and Thursday in Vancouver, Wash., and will vote on the new math requirement and Core 24 on the second day of that meeting.

For an agenda, go to www.sbe.wa.gov/meetingcalendar.htm.

For information about Core 24, go to www.sbe.wa.gov and click on “Meaningful High School Diploma.”

Originally published: July 22nd, 2008 01:24 AM (PDT)