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Education Dive
States ease high school graduation requirements as coronavirus closures extend
More states are offering flexibilities around elective and even core
credits to ensure seniors get their diplomas and move on to college
despite closures.
Naaz Modan
March 31, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered school buildings across the
nation at unprecedented speed, with nearly all states closed through
April and a handful extending closures through the end of the academic
year. For high schools, the rapidly changing situation has thrown usual
traditions for a loop: senior proms are being canceled and graduation
ceremonies postponed or becoming virtual events.
Among those changes are recommendations or orders from many states —
including Virginia, Tennessee, Washington, Kansas and Idaho — to waive
certain graduation requirements.
According to the Education Commission of the States, decisions around
graduations are pending in many states. Others have received word to
alter graduation requirements and are ironing out the details.
In Washington, one of the earliest states to be affected by the virus,
a law signed March 17 allows the state board to waive core credit
requirements for districts that “demonstrate a good faith effort” to
address them. But what meets that bar and how much will be waived is up
for interpretation by Washington’s State Board of Education.
“We think the first option is to try to get [seniors] the credit
through different options,” Randy Spaulding, executive director of the
board of education, said.
Alternate routes for Washington districts include:
Offering non-CTE course equivalents for CTE classes.
Allowing a single course to knock out two graduation requirements.
Offering “pass” or “no credit” transcript designations instead of letter grades.
The changes will be made for students who were otherwise “on track” to
graduate. According to the Washington board’s initial interpretation,
this could mean students who completed or were enrolled in courses that
would allow them to meet the state graduation requirements by the end
of the 2019-20 school year.
Those who weren’t on track will have much more to make up once schools reopen, Spaulding said.
“The message that we sent to families in our districts is: Seniors,
you’re not off the hook yet. You need to keep working hard,”
Washington’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal
said.
Other alternatives
In Kansas, the state board has urged districts to stick to only 21
required credits. Most districts have additional course requirements
that the state is urging they scale back, like internships and
community service hours.
“We’ve had a few districts say, ‘You know what? We’re just going to
make sure they’ve met at least the state’s graduation requirements,’”
said Brad Neuenswander, deputy commissioner for Kansas Department of
Education’s Division of Learning Services. Typically for seniors, those
requirements are courses in government and English.
According to that standard, many Kansas seniors have already graduated.
Virginia is in a similar boat: The majority of its high school seniors
have met most of the state’s graduation requirements, Superintendent of
Public Instruction James Lane said in a statement. And the state is
providing additional flexibility for seniors around CTE credentials,
sequential course requirements, and other course requirements like
economics and personal finance to make graduation possible.
Meanwhile, in Idaho, state assessments have been waived along with the senior project and college entrance exams.
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