diploma

Thursday, August 20, 2009

State bills in works to let tech courses fulfill math requirement
Christina Stolarz / The Detroit News

Lansing-- Michigan legislators made it clear that math-related career and technical education courses could fulfill the Algebra II graduation requirement for high school students.

The bill was passed unanimously Wednesday by the state Senate; the House Education Committee also soon will take up a vote on similar legislation.

There side-by-side comparisons to provide information regarding:

• ADP English Benchmarks with the newly developed College- and Career-Ready Common Core State Standards in Reading, Writing and Communication
  Click here to view the report
  
• ADP Mathematics Benchmarks with the newly developed College- and Career-Ready Common Core State Standards in Mathematics
  Click here to view the report
  

Purpose

Thursday, June 18, 2009
Detroit News, Commentary: Lansing
Two-diploma plan demeans Michigan's technical students
Patricia Cantu

Some in Michigan insist that high school students in career and technical programs don't need to meet the state's new graduation requirements. This idea not only demeans the students, but puts their futures at risk.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) has evolved into something vastly different from the wood shop or metal shop classes of the past. Yet, no matter what the name is, or how we've improved the standards, the perception of "vocational" education is that it is still for "those" kids who can't make it in regular high school.

News Statement
CONTACT: Sandy Boyd, (202) 419-1542, sboyd@achieve.org

Momentum Builds, Yet Work Remains in the Years Ahead to Ensure All Students Graduate Ready for College and Careers

The Emergence of State and Local Policies to Support the Recognition of Academic Credit for CTE Coursework

Rep. Joel SHELTROWN (D-West Branch) plans to drop a bill next week that would create the flexibility of a second pathway to a high school diploma in Michigan.

For more than a year, Sheltrown has been advocating for giving students an alternative to the Michigan Core Curriculum, particularly the Algebra II requirement, which he said discriminates against students whose aptitudes, and in many cases potentially bright futures, might lie elsewhere.

The two-pathway idea is a hybrid of Sheltrown's initial concept of a two-diploma system. The sight change in approach was a result of legislative committee input last session.

The 2006-2007 graduation rates will be calculated by tracking individual students who first enrolled in ninth grade in fall 2003, and graduated four years later with a regular diploma. Continuing students who were not reported as diploma recipients were recorded for accountability purposes as “off-track.”

It looks like Rep. Joel SHELTROWN (D-West Branch) would need to get enough votes to override a veto if he hopes to see his bill, HB 5943, get enacted.

HB 5943 would create a dual diploma system for "students who don't fit the mold for going on to college".

"We're not in support of lowering standards," Granholm Press Secretary Liz BOYD told MIRS today. "We fought for more a rigorous curriculum and our support for that continues."

FOR BACK GROUND: http://mymassp.com/content/dual_diploma_plan_coming_being_introduced_anyway

The attached is a report from Achieve, Inc.