Plan adds 2 courses
to grad requisitesThe proposal by a BOE panel
must still go to the full board
Hawaii's public school students would have to take two more yearlong courses to graduate from high school, under a plan approved by a Board of Education committee yesterday.
The surprise move, which would boost the required credits for graduation to 24 from 22, came in response to public outcry over proposals to trim social studies and physical education requirements in favor of other mandated courses. Rather than replace courses, the Committee of the Whole on Regular Education decided to increase the requirements.
"We listened to the task force and we listened to the community, and we've come up with something that enables our students to meet our vision of a high school graduate," said board member Denise Matsumoto.
If adopted by the full board, the plan will make it tougher for students to obtain diplomas at a time when the federal government is mandating improved graduation rates as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.
"Realistically, some students have a hard time meeting the 22 credits," said Gerald Suyama, principal of Pearl City High School. "They're going to struggle, and the graduation rate will probably drop. With No Child Left Behind requiring higher graduation rates, we're almost cutting our own throats."
Only a handful of states require 24 credits for graduation, with most requiring from 20 to 22, according to a 2002 survey by the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Suyama served on the Graduation Requirements Task Force, which spent two years developing its proposal, researching practices in other states, soliciting public input, and crafting a plan that members thought would make high school more relevant to today's world and more personal for students.
It recommended adding two years of either fine arts, foreign language, or career and technical education, as well as a yearlong senior research project. To keep the number of credits at 22, it originally proposed subtracting one of the four years of social studies, half a year of physical education, one elective credit and a half-year guidance course. It later restored the half credit of PE in response to public outrage, boosting the total to 22.5 credits.
The board accepted the task force's proposal to replace the guidance course with a noncredit personal academic plan developed with the help of an adviser who would work with students throughout their high school years and help prepare them for life beyond graduation. The committee decided to incorporate the senior project into a proposed Board of Education Recognition Diploma, which would require 25 credits.
If approved by the full board, the plan passed out of committee yesterday would apply to students starting high school in 2006 and graduating in 2010. Because the proposal would affect working conditions of teachers and staff, it requires consultation with public school unions before going to the full board.
Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto supported the plan to increase graduation requirements.
"PE and social studies surfaced as needs that came through loud and clear," she said. "I look at the 24 credits as foundation courses that we know students will need in whatever they do when they graduate."
But board member Karen Knudsen expressed reservations, saying she didn't want to set students up to fail.
"I like this, but I don't want to implement it right away," she said. "I like academic rigor; I just want to make sure that the building blocks are in place so students can achieve what we want them to."
She ultimately voted to advance it to the full board.
Suyama said he was disappointed with the board's action, but people who had lobbied to keep PE and social studies intact welcomed it.
"It was a good example of the influence of grass roots," said Gail Tamaribuchi, chairwoman of the teacher education committee for social studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's College of Education.