THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702100046
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 171 lines
School officials are weighing a plan that would make it harder to get a high school diploma by requiring high school students to take certain academic courses and graduate with an overall grade point average of at least a 2.0 - or C.
The plan, crafted by Superintendent Richard D. Trumble and presented at a recent School Board retreat, is a combination of tougher academic requirements for high school students; higher standards for third-, fifth- and eighth-graders to be promoted to the next grade; and more steps to help academically weak students pass muster.
Trumble wants to light a fire under apathetic students, as well as raise the bar for student performance across the district.
And high school diplomas, he points out, increasingly lose their value when colleges, employers and others find that ``graduates'' don't measure up.
``I am indeed tired of giving diplomas to kids who can't read, can't write, can't perform at something approaching high-school level,'' Trumble said in an interview.
The board, which embraced most of the plan, isn't expected to make a decision on it for at least another month. How much the plan would cost to implement - and whether the district could afford it - is another question mark.
The administration would also have to get approval from the state Board of Education before key parts of the plan could take effect, like the GPA requirement.
Moreover, if the local board approved the plan, the 2.0 requirement would be put off until the 2002-2003 school year - to give students and teachers time to prepare.
Under that scenario, students entering ninth grade in the fall of 1999 would need at least a 2.0 overall average, while also meeting other requirements, to get a diploma.
Special education students would continue to be handled on a case-by-case basis, Trumble said.
Under the plan, high school students would choose from one of two paths: the ``College Preparation/Technical Education'' track or the ``Certificate'' track.
The ``general'' track, through which students have been able to get a diploma, would no longer exist. The certificate track would not lead to a diploma.
Beginning with this fall's ninth-graders, students on the college-prep/technical track would be required to select one of five ``clusters'': Business and marketing; engineering and technology; visual and performing arts; health and human services; or global and international studies.
Students still would be required to take traditional academic subjects, such as English and math.
But clusters essentially would re-focus the curricula on a smaller, academic core that would provide concrete skills - instead of a smorgasbord of courses.
Students would be steered away from loading up on certain ``electives,'' or non-mandatory classes, that are unlikely to lead to a career after high school or to help them in college.
Students on the college-prep/tech track also would be required to pass algebra, which is not currently required for graduation.
And they would need to meet a minimum grade point average requirement. In that regard, Portsmouth would be a leader in the state: Virginia does not require students to obtain a certain GPA to get a diploma. For this fall's entering freshmen in Portsmouth, the minimum would be at least a 1.3 overall average.
The minimum would rise to 1.6 for the following year's freshmen. Freshmen entering high school in 1999 would face the 2.0 requirement.
Another hurdle for students seeking a diploma: They'd need to score at or above a pre-determined level on a statewide, standardized exam for 11th-graders.
The new state tests are now being written. The state Board of Education may eventually require a certain score on the new tests for Virginia's public school students to get a high school diploma.
Portsmouth students who wouldn't want to meet diploma requirements, or those academically unable to do so, would not be eligible for a diploma under the plan.
But they could receive one of two certificates.
Those would indicate that while students are chronologically at the end of their high-school careers, they have barely mastered basic skills and should not be considered bona fide graduates.
The ``certificate of attendance'' would essentially acknowledge seat time.
One notch above that is the ``certificate of completion,'' which would be reserved for students who maintained a 2.0 average but failed to satisfy diploma requirements; or failed to score at or above a pre-determined level on the state's forthcoming standardized exam for juniors; or failed the state-mandated Literacy Passport Test.
A student on the certificate track could change paths to get a diploma.
Students would also be allowed to change clusters.
Joi Chisholm, a 17-year-old senior, said the plan could be ``effective,'' although it wouldn't affect her directly.
``Even though you don't have to go to college to get some jobs, you still need to know things like algebra,'' the I.C. Norcom High School student said after learning about the plan from a reporter.
``Right now, a lot of students are just doing the minimum, only what it takes to just get by.''
While the plan would in some ways bring major changes - like the GPA requirement for a diploma - it isn't meant to be ``punitive,'' Trumble said.
In fact, the administration estimates that only 12 percent of students would fall onto the certificate track; special ed students are excluded from that figure.
The other track would accommodate practically everyone - from the average to the stellar.
Last year, the Norfolk School Board voted to ditch its ``general'' diploma, with the thinking that it allowed too many students to coast through school and leave unprepared for college or the work force.
Trumble said his proposal stemmed from a similar desire to constantly raise expectations for students in an increasingly sophisticated world.
That's why he said his plan also called for beefing up some ``safeguards'' to catch underachieving kids before they're entangled in academic failure.
A major safeguard calls for the expansion of two nationally recognized reading programs for elementary students.
The plan is in line with changes public school reformers have pushed for, such as ending ``social promotion.''
That's the practice of advancing students from one grade to the next on the basis of age and attendance rather than academic performance.
Trumble's plan would try to eliminate the practice: In an unspecified academic year, students in grades three, five and eight would be required to score at or above a pre-determined level on a state standardized exam to pass to the next grade.
Portsmouth board members are most concerned about Trumble's certificate track, however.
At least one board member fears that employers or others wouldn't know what to make of certificates, perhaps putting students at a further disadvantage.
Another, board member Elizabeth Daniels, described certificates as ``sugar-coating failure.''
And some experts have characterized such moves as an easy out for educators - a justification for avoiding the hard work of teaching academic subjects to non-elite students.
Trumble said he probably would drop the ``certificate of attendance.''
Board members appeared to favor most of Trumble's recommendations.
Effective schooling is a two-way street, they said. Lessons should be relevant and engaging. At the same time, students must be willing to work hard, they said.
``If (students are) going to be 100 percent of our future, they've got to get their fannies into high gear now and do right,'' said board Chairman Byron P. Kloeppel.
``That's a fact of life.'' ILLUSTRATION: HIGHLIGHTS OF TRUMBLE'S PLAN
Portsmouth Superintendent Richard D. Trumble proposed a plan that
would make it harder to get a high school diploma. The plan would
also raise academic standards across the district.
Some key points:
Beginning with this fall's ninth-graders, high school students on
the ``College Preparation/Technical Education Track'' would be
required to select one of five areas of interest, such as
``Engineering and Technology.''
Traditional academic subjects, such as English, would form the
core of each area, or ``cluster.'' Students in all clusters would be
required to pass algebra. To receive diplomas, they would also need
to meet a minimum grade point average requirement.
Diploma-seeking students would need to score at or above a
pre-determined level on a forthcoming statewide, standardized exam
for 11th-graders.
Students who wouldn't want to meet diploma requirements, or those
academically unable to do so, would not be eligible for a diploma.
But they could receive one of two certificates from the
``Certificate Track.'' The ``general'' diploma track would no longer
exist.
Certificates would indicate that while students are
chronologically at the end of their high-school careers, they have
barely mastered basic skills and should not be considered bona fide
graduates.
Special education students would continue to be handled on a
case-by-case basis.
In an unspecified academic year, students in grades three, five
and eight would have to score at or above a set level on a state
standardized exam to pass to the next grade.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS