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13% of seniors may miss out on high school diplomas

Ohanian Comment: People who make on line comments to articles like this one seems very unhappy and very angry. There are many comments like these:


• A high school diploma should mean something. We should make it harder than it is now to get one.


• Maybe the teachers union should spend a little less of our tax money advertising to us how wonderful they are and shilling for yet more money and a little more time teaching.


• So you know if 13% of seniors miss out on high school diplomas, that means another 13% are getting their diploma while doing nothing more than sleeping in class. I love it, my job feels more secure every time I read an article like this. I want to especially thank our teachers for filling the future job market with a bunch of dummies.


This rage is not unique to Minnesota. I see it wherever I look at online comment about articles on education. It makes me wonder if only very angry people read newspapers and/or if only people who have a deep-seated grudge against their own schooling read newspapers.

By Emily Johns

More than 8,000 Minnesota high school
seniors are in danger of not graduating this
spring because they have not passed state
tests that for the first time will be required
for a diploma.

According to data from the Minnesota
Department of Education, 13 percent of
seniors have yet to pass the reading test,
which was first given to them in 10th grade,
and 3 percent have yet to pass the writing
test, which was first given to them in ninth
grade.

The state did not break out percentages for
individual schools or districts, but the Star
Tribune obtained figures directly from some
districts. They ranged from 28 percent of
seniors who have not passed the reading test
in Minneapolis to about 2 percent in
Farmington.

"We have a fair number of kids who just keep
putting it off," said Don Johnson, principal of
Owatonna High School. "It's a mentality of,
'You're not really not going to graduate me,
are you?' And the answer is, 'Yeah.'"

As spring approaches, that's expected to
create tension between policymakers who
have pressured schools to stop graduating
students who may not be ready and families
who don't believe their child's education
should be derailed by one test.

"Some people are saying, 'Wait. Are we going
to actually deny a kid a diploma, even if they
have all their credits, 'cause they can't score
well on a standardized test?'" said Kent Pekel,
executive director of the University of
Minnesota's College Readiness Consortium.
"And you'll have other folks saying, 'You're
not doing them a favor by passing them out
of high school if they can't read or write.' ...
And the research is not clear on which of
those sides is right."

This year, for the first time, the St. Paul
district plans to have another graduation
ceremony at summer's end for students who a
ren't ready to graduate by June because
they lack credits or haven't passed the tests.

St. Paul district spokesman Howie Padilla said
that Superintendent Valeria Silva wanted
people to still work on the graduation test.
"Walking across a stage is a right of passage
for students," Padilla said.

'A tough test'

Until now, seniors have had to pass a series
of "Basic Standards Tests" to graduate.
Designed to measure basic proficiency, and
they were first administered in eighth grade
The new generation of tests, called the GRAD
test -- Graduation Required Assessments for
Diploma -- is designed to measure whether a
student is prepared to succeed beyond high
school.

Educators were relieved last spring when the
Legislature threw out the requirement that
students pass the GRAD math test, saying it
was too hard. Now, students can graduate if
they've passed the test once or failed it three
times.

But no reprieve was granted for reading and
writing, and the state doesn't have an appeals
process for students who can't pass. Only
students who have lived in the United States
for less than four years and certain special
education students are exempt.

Owatonna's Johnson, who is the president of
the Minnesota Association of Secondary
School Principals, said his school is working
hard to make sure students and parents
understand what is at stake.

The school is asking the 9 percent of the
school's 400 or so seniors who have yet to
pass the reading test to work with teachers
in small groups to improve.

He said most of those students will meet the
rest of their graduation requirements. To
critics who say the school must not be
teaching basic skills well enough, Johnson
responds, "This is a tough test, and a fair
number of adults in any community would
have trouble passing it."

Many principals say high school teachers
were never trained to teach reading because
it was considered an elementary school
subject.

The reading test questions are multiple
choice. For the writing tests, students have to
compose an essay. For example, they may be
asked to write a detailed essay about their
dream job.

Getting what they need

Minneapolis public school teachers are
putting students who haven't passed in
special classes and tutoring them after
school and on weekends. They're also
warning parents and eliciting their help.

"We've been sending home letters, we've
done robo-calls, and we've talked to them at
conferences," said Brenda Cassellius, a
ssociate superintendent. "They're also going
to be getting their senior letters soon," which
tell parents what seniors have left to do to
graduate.

"I haven't heard from any parents who are
starting to panic," she said, "but I bet my
principals have."

State Rep. Jim Davnie, DFL-Minneapolis, said
he wishes the state would focus more on
reducing the achievement gap between white
students and students of color.

"The fact that [these students] can't pass it is
certainly worrisome," said Davnie, who is i
nvolved with education issues at the
Legislature. "But the responsibility is on both
sides of the test: It's on the kids to push
themselves, and it's on the adults in this state
to make sure that the students have what
they need to be successful."

Students are allowed to take the tests every
six weeks, as long as they do something,
such as get tutoring, to improve in the
interim. Most schools offer a couple more
chances before the end of the school year.

"We're taking it very seriously," said Ben
Kusch, principal of Farmington High School,
where eight students still have to pass the
reading test, "because we know there is a lot
at stake."



— Emily Johns
Star-Tribune
2010-02-27
http://www.startribune.com/local/85736472.html

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