Another student withdrew from my class and from school today. At least this time he was transferring to a state accredited online school. That is not always the case. I have had students transfer to questionable online schools where they only need 17 credits, $500, no WASL, and no senior project to get (buy) a diploma. I have had capable students opt for a GED and others just plain quit. We have Running Start students opting to earn an AA degree with no high school diploma. A colleague in school across the region had a student boldly state, “I am not taking another math class, and I am not taking the math WASL again. What are my options?”
Senior attrition is not unusual. Students get to their fourth year in high school and due to a lack credits, the need to work full time, or host of other distractions give up on a diploma. But this year is different. We are seeing more students who are on track for graduation opt for easier ways to finish their schooling. The deciding factors are the culminating projects and, for those not passing the math WASL, continued math requirements.
The knee-jerk reaction might be to ease up on the higher standards the community demanded and the schools have established. We hate to see our kids fail, but these students are seventeen and eighteen and are free to choose. It is difficult to accept their decisions when we know those choices are not for their own good. We want to rescue them. But, other than a healthy review of these standards and graduation requirements, we must stay the course. We must focus on the majority of students who have met the challenge and benefited from doing so. We must maintain policies that validate the coursework of the junior and senior year and the new graduation requirements. These years are not holding patterns for college or work but are critical times for students to delve into subjects in depth and career exploration.
As a community we must remember that we demanded higher standards because our world requires a workforce of critical thinkers and problem solvers who can adapt to change. Lowering the standards or offering easier ways around them will undermine that goal. This is not to say we don’t find alternate ways for students to earn a diploma, but we must ensure that these routes are valid, and we must reward those who enter the workforce and higher education having successfully earned all of the requirements of the Washington State diploma.
Molly Berger is a guest blogger and teacher in Yakima.
Previous Blogs:
The Art and Science of Teaching
Conversations make the Conference
The Value of Projects
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