You have to tip your cap to our own editor here at the C-P, Charlie Smith, and Jeff Amy of the Associated Press for not just taking the graduation numbers in Mississippi at face value.
Smith uncovered the reason why graduation is up 7.8 percent in the matter of two years — the bar has been lowered. The Board of Education no longer requires students to pass standardized tests in basic subjects like algebra I, English II, biology I and U.S. history.
Now why I understand I may be the exception — I was in gifted classes my whole life and my parents declined an opportunity to have me skip a grade, considering I was already the youngest student in my grade — but the bar was already set mind-blowingly low. I mean, I took algebra I in junior high and was taking college courses my final two years of high school. While I may have been advanced, those four classes that students were required to pass are all sophomore level classes.
The Board of Education is really trying to justify that students who can’t pass tests in sophomore level classes by the time they are expected to graduate are able to just skate on by if they get a 17 on the corresponding subject on the ACT, OR carry a C average in college courses they may take in high school, OR certain scores on military entrance or career technical exams, combined with a career certification.
How many different options is that? And the Mississippi Board of Education executives are really trying to justify these options as credible? A 17, really? That is a terribly low bar to set.
By giving these students all these different options, the education system is crippling them. It teaches the students that if they can’t cut it, don’t worry about it, we’ll open another door for you.
How many times does that happen in the real world? New doors don’t just pop open. If you apply for a job that you don’t have the qualifications for, is the company just going to make an exception for you? No, they are going to find a candidate who is qualified.
This isn’t helping these students become better functioning adults. These alternate routes to graduate are only accomplishing one thing: boosting the face value of numbers so the Board of Education feels better when they lay their heads down at night.
What they really should be focused on is finding a way to reach the students who are at risk of not graduating and figure out ways to better prepare them to meet the requirements. n
Reach Sports Editor Joshua Campbell at 736-2611 or joshuacampbell@columbianprogress.com.
