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Changing graduation requirements bring new challenges to students |
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Written by Kaili Kasparek
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 |
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As the years go by, Grant’s graduation requirements, as well as those of every other high school in the district, are slowly increasing. This year in particular includes some important changes, such as modifications to the Pathways program, testing demands, and credit requirements. The changes do not stop here: over the next few years, the school district plans to continue to modify credit requirements until they are considered suitable. However, the overall number of credits required will not increase by much; rather, the changes will focus primarily on credit distribution.
While some of the changes have yet to be implemented, others are already going into effect for current underclassmen. This year’s seniors are the last class at Grant who will not be required to complete two years of world language studies: while the class of 2010 has eight required elective credits, next year only six will be mandatory, leaving two credits to go to a world language requirement. Since colleges and universities often ask for two years of study in a world language, this particular change will hopefully help more students meet acceptance requirements when applying for a higher education.
In addition to cutting elective credits, Portland Public Schools no longer requires students to earn three credits in Pathway areas in order to receive a diploma. However, even though these credits are no longer required for the retrieval of a diploma, it is expected that most students will continue completing some of the components of the Pathways program. These components will most likely include developing a Personal Education Plan, which is used to assist students in pursuing their post-high school goals as well as their personal, educational and career interests. The Pathways program also includes participating in Career-Related Learning Experiences (structured educational experiences that connect learning to the world beyond the classroom) and meeting all of the Career-Related Learning Standards, which prepare students for post-high school success.
The seniors graduating this year will not receive any credit for completing a Pathway portfolio. Due to this, the number of total credits necessary to graduate has decreased by one, resulting in completion of 24 credits to graduate. However, students graduating after 2010 still have the option of earning this credit upon completion of their portfolio.
Another topic discussed at a recent district meeting was that of modified and extended diplomas. This year, a 12-credit “extended diploma” will be available to special education students for the first time. The only catch is that the state specifies in which subject the credits must be earned.
The “modified diploma” is available to a wider range of students, but includes similar stipulations as to subject area. While the total number of credits for the modified diploma will stay at 24, 12 of them must consist of English, science, health, social science, PE and math. This option will come into action with this year’s freshmen and sophomores; it is expected that most of this year’s juniors and seniors will graduate with the current requirements.
The school district officials have stated that these revisions make the PPS diploma requirements and those of the state more similar. The revisions also allow PPS to keep working on Pathways as a way to design a new high school system, without risk of the continual changes hindering student progress. Other modifications will also continue. Within the coming months, Xavier Botana, Portland’s chief academic officer, will guide a team to take charge of existing programs, expand a way for requiring the state-mandated Personalized Learning Requirements, study the financial impacts of these options, and inspect how those options could line up with the new high school system.
Students will also see changes in testing requirements: this year’s sophomores will be the first class that must reach a new level of testing proficiency through the OAKS assessment program. “This testing process will be very similar to the one that the district has been using in the past, the only difference being that students must pass all of these new OAKS test in different subject areas in order to graduate,” explains Barbara Baker, who was hired as a school testing coordinator to organize the new system.
This is Baker’s first year at Grant, and she already has a lot on her plate. She deals with the ISM programs as well as with testing, and has noticed that the ISM requirements for graduation are now overlapping with the standard requirements. In addition, her work with the new graduation requirements is a job related to student opportunities after graduation: Baker is what Vice Principal Kim Patterson calls the “Naviance Guru” for the school.
“I support Naviance throughout the entire school district,” explains Baker. As college applications move from a paper world to an electronic one, Naviance is becoming an ever more important tool for each graduating class. This year, for example, it was the only way for seniors to request a transcript or a letter of recommendation. In the future, Naviance will also be used to aid students in career exploration, with Baker to assist other Grant staff members in working with the system. Baker states that she is “delighted to be here, but [needs] to see, as years progress, what is causing difficulty in order to know where [she] will be most helpful.”
One thing is sure: as students and teachers adapt to the changing demands of graduation, her help is likely to be much needed. Patterson, for one, predicts an ongoing process of modification for graduation requirements. “The section of education for the United States is putting an emphasis on the rational graduation standards,” she explains. “As years go by we will most likely continue to evolve to work out the flaws. There will always be a benchmark to be reached, but the tools will change over time.”
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