A public hearing will be held this
Monday, Jan. 21 in the Senate education committee on SB6540 to delay the reading and writing
graduation requirement until 2013. Holding the hearing on Martin Luther King Jr.
Day may suggest the bill is being positioned as a civil rights measure.
Wouldn't a better message from
the state be, "We're going to do whatever it takes to make sure that all
students, including minority seniors yet to meet the reading and writing
standard, do so by the time of graduation?"
(For example, figures for Class of 2008
African American students related to the WASL statewide are: 259 need to meet
the reading standard; 152 still need writing; 467 need both reading and writing.
But of the 467, approximately two-thirds have not taken the test at
all.)
As a result of the graduation
requirement in reading, 6 in 10 African American 10th graders in the state
passed the reading test on their first attempt this year whereas fewer than 3 in
10 did so just eight years ago.
Many in the Class of 2008 still needing to meet
standard are submitting portfolios of their work as a state-approved alternative
and will retake the test this spring. Having a reading goal has driven better
attention, resources and results. It is staggering to think that legislators are
considering lowering standards so that students can be passed on and receive a
diploma without knowing how to read.
We urge you to send an email to members of the
Senate Education Committee to express that reading truly is fundamental and
should remain a requirement for the high school diploma. Their addresses
are:
Committee Chair:
mcauliffe.rosemary@leg.wa.gov
Committee Members:
tom.rodney@leg.wa.gov
king.curtis@leg.wa.gov
brandland.dale@leg.wa.gov
eide.tracey@leg.wa.gov
hewitt.mike@leg.wa.gov
hobbs.steve@leg.wa.gov
holmquist.janea@leg.wa.gov
kauffman.claudia@leg.wa.gov
mcdermott.joe@leg.wa.gov
oemig.eric@leg.wa.gov
rasmussen.marilyn@leg.wa.gov
weinstein.brian@leg.wa.gov
zarelli.joseph@leg.wa.gov
ARTICLES
Urban Schools Aiming Higher Than
Diploma
Posted on 17 Jan
BOSTON - At Excel
High School, in South Boston, teachers do not just prepare students academically
for the SAT; they take them on practice walks to the building where the SAT will
be given so they won't get lost on the day of the test.
In
Chattanooga, Tenn., the schools have abolished their multitrack curriculum,
which pointed only a fraction of students toward college. Every student is now
on a college track.
And in
the Washington suburb of Prince George's County, Md., the school district is
arranging college tours for students as early as seventh grade, and adding eight
core Advanced Placement classes to every high school, including some schools
that had none.
Those efforts, and others across the country,
reflect a growing sense of urgency among educators that the primary goal of many
large high schools serving low-income and urban populations - to move students
toward graduation - is no longer enough.
Read
more...
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