State school board backs diploma options
The Ohio Board of Education voted 16-1 Tuesday to urge lawmakers to extend relaxed requirements for a high school diploma already given to the Class of 2018 to the Classes of 2019 and 2020 as well.
“This is our first experience with graduation requirements that aren’t solely test based. We have added these other elements in, and we don’t know yet which of these different pathways to graduation are effective (and) are being used by students, or have value,” said board member Laura Kohler of New Albany.
“The ultimate goal is to make sure more students graduate ready to work.”
Critics argue that easing the requirements doesn’t help students.
Kara Morgan, a board member from Dublin, opposed the recommendation, saying she is concerned about whether the added options assured students have the skills they need.
“The ultimate outcome isn’t high school graduation but success of those students who graduate high school in the future,” Morgan said.
New state requirements that students score at least 18 out of a possible 36 points on seven end-of-course exams or earn a remediation-free score on a college entrance exam to graduate were to take effect this year with the Class of 2018.
But concerns that many students would not meet the benchmark prompted lawmakers to loosen the requirements for this year’s seniors. They added options for students who didn’t do well on tests to earn a diploma by having good attendance, C+ grades or a job.
“Despite consistent feedback that too many Ohio high school graduates aren’t ready for credit-bearing college courses and don’t possess the skills necessary to enter the workforce, the state board of education is once again recommending that the legislature walk back the requirements for high school graduation,” said Chad L. Aldis, vice president for Ohio policy and advocacy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
“What’s most disappointing is that this change is being recommended even though a significant majority of Ohio students have met the more-rigorous graduation requirements.”
The state Department of Education projects that nearly 77 percent of students in the Class of 2018 are on track to meet new test requirements. The department doesn’t know how many more will graduate through the added options.