The Indiana Commission on Higher Education unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to replace the Core 40 Diploma and General Diploma with new diplomas meant to be reflective of more rigorous academic requirements and increased credits.
The State Board of Education is expected to discuss the matter at its September meeting. If the plan ultimately goes forward, students entering high school in the fall of 2018 would be affected.
The change is driven by state concerns that the current diploma requirements are not sufficient, said Jason Bearce, associate commissioner for strategic communications. He said about 80 percent of Indiana high school students graduate with a Core 40 or Core 40 Honors Diploma. Some of the Core 40 students are being flagged for remediation at the college level, “more of them then we would like.”
The plan, explained at the Commission meeting at Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, calls for three diploma options. The College and Career Ready diploma would require 44 credits to replace the default Core 40. The College and Career Ready Diploma with Honors Distinction would require 48 credits and a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA and a “C” or better in all courses to replace the Academic Honors and Technical Honors diplomas. The Workforce Ready Diploma would require 40 credits with a graduation capstone requirement of either an industry-recognized certification, a career experience or three transcripted college credits to replace the General Diploma.
The new requirements will increase the academic rigor, particularly in mathematics, and expose students to specific college and career readiness classes, said Bearce. In addition, the plan tightens up the process which students must follow, if they choose a General/Workforce Ready Diploma thus opting out of a diploma that would be needed to attend a four-year college.
“This recognizes that all students need math and that the math (classes they take) is the right math,” Bearce said. The plan calls for three pathways: Calculus (for Science Technology Engineering and Math career paths or for Health Sciences career paths); Quantitative Reasoning (for general college bound) and Technical Math.
All diplomas require students to take eight credits of classes that include: Preparing for College and Careers, Personal Financial Responsibilty and a College & Career Readiness Sequence.
Commission member Christopher Murphy asked how a student would know which diploma to pursue and how early in the process the student must decide on a path.
“(It seems as if) you really have to make a choice in the first or second year,” Murphy said. “You want to be careful (students) don’t get on a track and can’t get off.”
Commissioner Teresa Lubbers said students would probably make a choice by the end of their sophomore year or the beginning of their junior year and though it might be difficult to change, it would be possible to do so.
“I think it is far from a done deal and many superintendents have spoken out about the Pathways piece,” said Larry Veracco, superintendent of Lake Central School Corp. in a phone interview. “Some of the ideas are flawed. If you give student a sequence that is so tight there’s not enough flex and the student wavers from that course of study, there still have to be ways to moderate that without harming the child. Many superintendents feel the way that it is currently written is not flexible.”
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
