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New graduation standards raise questions
By Derek Hodges
State proposals for new high school exit standards have left many Jackson County educators with unanswered questions.
Officials with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction met Jan. 18 with educators and community members at Scotts Creek Elementary School to discuss the new standards.
The State Board of Education voted in October to approve a framework of new graduation requirements. Those requirements call for using performance on five end-of-course tests and a statewide senior project for determining whether a student should graduate.
Students in the occupational course of study would be exempted from the testing requirements. The changes would begin with the class of 2010.
Current standards require students to attain passing scores on subject-related and computer competency tests, complete one of four courses of study and successfully complete 20 units in grades 9-12, according to the N.C. Public Schools' Web site. Students in Jackson County are required to pass eight additional courses, for a total of 28, said Superintendent Sue Nations.
Sarah McManus, DPI section chief for testing policy and operations, said she was pleased with the meeting, which drew about 75 people from some of the 17 counties in the western region.
"I think it went really well," McManus said. "We wanted to get feedback and we got that. One of the state board members was even there, so he was able to hear those comments directly."
McManus said the meeting produced a "lot of helpful questions and comments" for the state board of education to consider.
Smoky Mountain High School Principal Alex Bell said he also thought the meeting went well, but said he felt it was structured differently than most people thought it would be.
"I think a lot of people came into the meeting thinking it would be a question-and-answer thing," Bell said. "Instead people asked questions and the officials just wrote them down to take them back to the state board."
Debate at the meeting centered around three key issues presented by McManus.
The first concerns how many tests the students will have to pass. One proposal would require students to pass all five tests, while another would only require four out of the five be completed successfully.
Nations, Bell and Blue Ridge School Principal Carol Rector all said that requiring students to pass each of the five tests could put many students in jeopardy.
"My concern is for students who have trouble taking tests," Rector said. "That's a lot riding on one day's worth of tests."
All three administrators agreed that requiring students to pass only four tests was a better option, allowing for students who might have a bad day on one test to still graduate.
The state board Web site presents the argument that students who know they have already passed four of the five tests might not focus as much on the fifth if it isn't required.
Bell said he could agree to requiring all five tests if there is adequate opportunity for remediation and retesting – a second topic up for debate.
Two proposals were presented on retesting opportunities. Both would allow students remediation, but one would only allow for two opportunities for retesting, while the other gives students at least one retest opportunity per year.
Again all three administrators were in agreement, saying that new calendar requirements approved by the General Assembly leave no time for remediation.
The calendar for the 2005-06 school year, approved at the Jackson County School Board's January meeting, places exams for subjects taught mainly in the fall to be given in January, after the winter break. That would mean any remediation would have to be done during the spring semester.
After the remediation and retest opportunities, any student who has still been unable to pass the required number of tests would be put under review by school administrators.
If the school's principal thought the student had met exit standards, despite having come up short on the tests, the student could still be given a diploma.
The issue of how schools will complete those reviews of student achievement drew comment from Nations, who said proposed reviews would require a substantial amount of documentation.
Should a student fail to pass tests, one proposal would have schools review their records after the second retest. The second plan would have schools conduct interim reviews, with one final review during the senior year.
"Who could keep up with all that paperwork," Nations said.
Rector, who couldn't attend the meeting because of an event at Blue Ridge, said those who did attend were left with "a lot of unanswered questions."
"I think there's a lot of misunderstanding, but people got the feeling that this was pretty much the way things are going to be," she said.
Nations said she was also left with "unanswered questions" after the meeting.
"There is a mood that educators should be prepared for a lot of changes in the near future thanks to the president's 'No Child Left Behind' initiative," Nations said.
"(The superintendents of the western region) feel like we should wait to see what the federal government is going to do before we add more requirements of our own," Nations said.
"Part of me says, 'They have to pass 20 courses, a computer competency test, a comprehensive exam – there's a whole lot that they have to do already,'" she said.
DPI officials are encouraging those interested in learning more about the new standards to read the proposals at www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/policyoperations/exitstandards/.
They are asking those who read the proposals to take an online survey available at www.zoomerang. com.
DPI officials will compile feedback taken from the meeting, along with that from five other regional meetings and the online survey, into a list of frequently asked questions and answers.
That information will be posted on the N.C. schools Web site in February, then presented to state board members at their meeting in March in preparation for an April vote.
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