Tag Archives: graduation

Giving Grace around Graduation

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Assessment, Current Affairs, Education Policy, High School | , , ,
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Earlier this month, Governor Inslee signed into law a bill intended to start a chain of events that I’m optimistic will lead straight to the students I teach.

EHB 1121 essentially authorizes the State Board of Education to establish procedures for local schools to grant credit waivers to certain graduation credits on a case-by-case basis for students impacted by events beyond their control.

There are several things I like about this. One, it isn’t limited to this year: it establishes a protocol which can be applied when a student’s education was impacted by local, state, or national emergencies.

Two, this part: School districts may be authorized to “grant individual student emergency waivers from credit and subject area graduation requirements established in RCW 28A.230.090, the graduation pathway requirement established in RCW 28A.655.250, or both” (page 2, lines 7-10 of the law as passed, which you can read here).

That last authorization is key to authentic flexibility. There are a variety of ways that students may have been impacted this year, and the “waivers from credit and subject area” requirements will hopefully give us some leeway. Some kids might have engaged in their art electives because it helped them cope with what was going on in their world, but might have struggled with distance-learning chemistry class. Conversely, another might have thrown themselves into the latter and felt unequipped to engage in the personal vulnerability that might have been plumbed in the former. The language about “credit and subject area” waivers allows us to take either situation into consideration, and not withhold a diploma from a student who was not able to check the box next to that last art or science credit.

While I do believe that the graduation pathways were a positive step forward, I am relieved that they are included in the waiver, since their nascency in policy might have meant that the COVID years would have been their first attempt at full implementation in many districts.

Bigger than all of this, though, is what the need for this bill reveals about our high school graduation credit system as it is.

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A Call for Credit Flexibility

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Education Policy, High School, Online Teaching | , , ,

On the OSPI website, I found this statement (originally posted at the start of the school year):

“The continuation of the COVID-19 public health crisis has meant that many school districts are re-opening using either a fully remote or hybrid learning model.  However, there are currently no additional credit flexibility or waiver options for the Class of 2021 graduation requirements like those used for the Class of 2020.”

As the legislature reconvenes in January and as other policy-making bodies weigh the second half of this unprecedented school year, I hope that flexibility around graduation credits for the class of 2021 gets swift and decisive attention.

Specifically, I believe that individual high schools should be granted complete discretion to waive up to two credits, no questions asked even for core classes, with the opportunity to apply for individual waivers of up to an additional four more credits for students who faced particular identifiable challenges during remote and hybrid learning. Yes, that is six credits: An entire school year. On top of that, waive all other non-credit-count requirements associated with graduation pathways. Put an asterisk on their certificate if it makes you feel better, but grant the diploma.

It is the humane thing to do.

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No Pathway to Graduation

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Assessment, Education Policy | , , , ,

11/6/2019 EDIT: See the comments for some updated information since the post originally published. –mg

Last spring, the state legislature made a policy move that, in the Tweet-length-version, seemed like a win for kids often marginalized in our system. The oft repeated phrase? “Legislators delink state tests from high school graduation.”

The essential premise as I understand it: The current assessment system (SBA) didn’t deserve greater weight than the rest of a student’s academic performance when it came time to determine if the student had earned their diploma.

Ultimately, this premise prevailed, and the resulting policy established eight separate pathways toward earning a high school diploma. So far, so good. I’m on board.

Unfortunately though, as I’ve tried to sort out what this means for my current students, I can’t help but be concerned. Unless I’m missing something big, there still will be a handful of kids… particularly in the graduating class of 2020… for whom no pathway to graduation exists.

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