New Diploma Requirements: Creating Pathways OUT of Workforce for Special Ed?

Tomorrow (10/28) the state board of education will meet to look at the new requirements for high school diplomas (here are the old ones). There appears to be multiple concerns about what they have proposed. If we set aside the offensive idea that we are condoning a caste system of education with the names "College and Career Ready" versus "Workforce Ready" for the types of diplomas, just the idea of sequencing or potential tracking the requirements for diplomas is concerning. An important question is if they don't require the arts, will financially-strapped schools be required to provide art/music teachers and classes? The arts education community is very concerned; see their blog post here. But it is most upsetting for the students with special needs. Please read this post in The Arc here.  But don't just read this post. Share it, email it, and write to the state board of education members.

Use these wonderful letters from our friends Shelly Scott-Harmon and  Penny Githens for inspiration for your own.  Here is Shelly's:  

​

Dear Members of the State Board of Education,

This is what I know:

As a former Academic Advisor at Indiana University Bloomington for nine years, I know the level of preparation with which high school graduates enter college. I know the strengths and weaknesses of in-state students as well as those coming from high schools in other states. Comparatively, Indiana students are at no disadvantage under the current diploma requirements.

As a Career Development Course faculty member, I know what employers look for in hiring college students for internships and college graduates for entry-level positions. I know what it takes to prepare high school students for successful college experiences, and I know what it takes to prepare college students for successful transitions into the careers of their choice. The current diploma requirements are effectively preparing Indiana students to begin the journey.

This is what I don't know:

As a mother of two elementary school children, I wonder how they will be affected by the new diploma scheme. My third grader has diverse interests that I expect will need to be narrowed down significantly if he is to complete the proposed track for a “College and Career Ready” diploma. I do not know the price he will pay for losing choices. My fifth grader has an Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD. He already talks about college and career as if it his choice which college and which career path he will follow. I do not know that he will have any choice at all if the proposed diploma tracks are adopted; it appears likely that IEP kids stand to lose the most if the new standards are actually adopted. I do not know what will be accomplished by forcing my son into high-level mathematics courses just to earn something called a “Workforce Ready” diploma.

This is what I fear:

As an Indiana resident, I will have to watch these proposed changes be adopted in the name of progress and see the choices for my children narrowed to an unimaginably small margin.

This is what I request:

Allow my children to learn and to choose. Give BOTH my boys a fair chance. Reject the proposed diplomas and focus on the real problems in Indiana education: standardized testing, teacher shortages, and lack of funding for public (not charter) schools.

​Sincerely,
Shelly Scott-Harmon, Ph.D.

​

And here is Penny's:

 I am rarely at a loss for words when I truly care about something, but at the moment I am afraid that I will not be able to truly convey what I feel. I hope I will be able to find the words needed to convince you to reverse your current position on the requirements for the new Workforce Ready Diploma.

Please understand that I have no problem with renaming what is currently called the General Diploma, especially if the requirements really do prepare high school students to enter the workforce. I am a former high school math teacher and the mother of a former special education student, and what I question are the new requirements. Let me be clear, however, that my sons have completed high school, so I am not asking for changes on behalf of my own children.

I would like to know how the proposed requirements for the new Workforce Ready diploma were generated. Did someone from the Indiana State Board of Education (SBOE) go to a wide variety of employers and ask if requiring students to pass geometry and advanced algebra meet their needs? Engineers, economists, scientists, statisticians and a host of other professionals need to have a firm grasp of mathematics, but do those who seek a Workforce Ready Diploma need such training? Think about it, does someone teaching high school history or English need this training? In fact, when was the last time members of the SBOE used skills taught in advanced high school math courses for something related to their work? I believe these courses are being used as proxies for whether or not individuals can learn job-specific skills, when they are not predictors of who will and will not be a good employee. I know, too, that employers complain about needing to provide additional training to employees, but what type of training are they providing? If they are not teaching advanced math skills, then we should be asking if the training is, in fact something that could not be predicted because it is specific to either that employer or that industry.

People may argue that not all high school students know what they want to do in life, so we should not short-change them. I am not disagreeing with that, and my hope is that we challenge all students. But, not taking geometry and advanced algebra in high school does not mean one can never study those subjects: Students can take these courses later in life through Ivy Tech Community College. Please remember that you are hearing this from a former math teacher.

According to Teresa Lubbers, the head of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, less than 10 percent of high school students will be getting the Workforce Ready diploma. As the mother of a former special education student, I suspect that a majority of those obtaining the Workforce Ready diploma will
be special education students. If my own son were still in school and I wanted him to obtain a high school diploma via this track, the first goal I would want written into his Individualized Educational Program would be that he earn this diploma. Special education students are eligible to remain in school – at public expense – through the end of the school year in which they turn 21. For some students that would mean an additional four years beyond when they might have “graduated” from high school. Does the State of Indiana really want to pay for a student to stay in school an additional four years as he or she attempts to pass a meaningless course or two? Do we really want that additional burden on our schools, especially if (a) the student does not have the capacity to master such a subject, and (b) it is not valued by a potential employer?

My son who was a special education student took advanced algebra, and due to his work ethic, summer tutoring and nightly help from his mother, he passed this course. My son works as a part-time dishwasher and he is happy in his job. He does not need advanced algebra skills to do his job. Another young man I know, who shares many of my son’s characteristics, takes care of waste disposal at a hospital. A third bags groceries. A fourth rolls silverware at a restaurant. My point is that all of these individuals are contributing members of society who earned a general diploma which did not require advanced math courses. If these individuals possessed only a certificate of completion, they may not have been considered for the jobs that they have held for several years. As the SBOE determines what the requirements are for the Workforce Ready diploma, I would ask that you inform the public what percentage of those who leave high school with only a certificate of completion have any type of employment outside of a sheltered workshop and how changes in the diploma requirements might impact the employability of those who cannot meet these requirements.

We also cannot let where a student lives within Indiana determine their ability to earn a high school diploma. To do so would be discriminatory.

In short, I ask that you drop the advanced math requirements for the Workforce Ready diploma. Instead, please focus on the skills that employers value while simultaneously ensuring that students have the opportunity to learn those skills at all Indiana high schools. Thank you.

Penny Githens

Write to the state board members individually:

Dr. Vince Bertram:  [email protected]
Dr. Byron Ernest:  [email protected]
Dr. David Freitas:  [email protected]
Gordon Hendry:  [email protected]
Lee Ann Kwiatkowski:  [email protected]
Eddie Melton:  [email protected]
Sarah O'Brien:  [email protected]
Superintendent Ritz:  [email protected]
B.J. Watts: [email protected]
Cari Whicker:  [email protected]
Dr. Steve Yager: [email protected]

And they are asking for submission of comments to this address: [email protected]