Dr. Terry Holliday, the Commissioner of Education in Kentucky, is looking at high school graduation with a different lens these days. “We’ve been tied to seat time for 100 years,” he recently told Sam Dillon of the New York Times.
This fall dozens of public high schools from across the nation, including Kentucky, will introduce a program intended to allow 10th graders to earn a diploma two years early and enroll in community college. “This would allow an approach based on subject mastery — a system based around move-on-when-ready,” said Dr. Holliday.
Those not passing the required battery of board exams in 10th grade would be eligible again at the end of their junior and senior years. Supporters of the program, which received a $1.5-million planning grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, say that the rigor is designed to make all students better prepared for higher education and reduce the college dropout rate.
Marc S. Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, which is spearheading the movement, said, “We’ve looked at schools all over the world, and if you walk into a high school in the countries that use these board exams, you’ll see kids working hard, whether they want to be a carpenter or a brain surgeon.”
Schools Building Communities will keep its eye on this venture. And the latest from the world of charter school news:
Ala. — Alabama’s charter bill is dead, but the debate continues (WVTM, NBC Channel 13)
Calif. — Cortines recommends who should run 30 campuses (L.A. Times)
Colo. — Keep best parts of No Child law (Denver Post)
Minn. — District poised to create two schools outside the bureacuracy (Minnesota Post)
N.C. — The charter school debate heats up in N.C. (Beaufort Observer)
Ore. — State leaders launch review of Oregon’s 10-year-old charter law (The Oregonian)
Va. — Support for charter schools in Virginia (Washington Post)
Noted philosopher
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