Washington State Board of Education Community Meetings on Improving Graduation Requirements to Better Prepare Students for Life after High School.

This fall, as part of its efforts to improve requirements for high school graduation to better prepare students for life after high school, the Washington State Board of Education held community meetings across the state to hear the public’s opinion on the topic.

During the meetings the Board discussed how the economy of our state and prospects for high school graduates have changed since the state last reviewed high school graduation credit requirements 22 years ago; offer a conceptual framework for improving state graduation requirements; and listen to public input.

The Board was interested in hearing from citizens on questions such as:

1. What essential skills should students learn in high school?
2. What are the pros and cons of requiring ALL students to meet a common core of state requirements in order to earn a diploma (with consideration for special education students)?
3. What are the pros and cons of raising graduation requirements to prepare students to take non-remedial coursework in community and technical colleges and/or matching graduation requirements to meet 4-year college entry requirements?
4. What changes would you recommend to the state minimum high school graduation requirements (High School and Beyond Plan, Culminating Project and state credits)? And why?
5. What should the content be for a required third credit of math?

In the near-term, input from the meetings will help the Board to define the purpose of the high school diploma and identify the content for a required third credit of math.

The feedback also will be used by the Board to draft recommendations for new high school graduation requirements, which it will release to the public in spring 2008.  During a second round of community meetings in spring 2008, members of the public will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft recommendations before they are finalized.

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