Missouris High School Task Force

1
Missouris High School Task Force

• Report to the State Board
• Friday, April 22, 2005
• Jerry Valentine, Professor MU
• Martin Jacobs, Principal, Liberty High School
• John Gaal, Director, Carpenters District Council
  of Greater St. Louis

2
The Policy Challenge

• Todays high school generally looks the same as
  it did thirty years ago
• Todays students and societys needs are
  drastically different
• The challenge is to implement state policy that
  will foster creativity and reform so our high
  schools meet the educational needs as they are
  today and as we anticipate they will be in the
  future

3
Commissioners Charge to Task Force May 11, 2004

• Two primary, big picture questions
• How do we ensure that all graduates are prepared
  to successfully enter college or the world of
  work?
• What does a High School look like where all
  students are proficient?
• How do we begin to change our schools today so
  the graduates of the future are successful in the
  future?
• The total number of credits is only a piece of
  the issue, what is required and the rigor in the
  curriculum are critical.
• The real difficulty of change may not be about
  creating new ideas but about escaping the old
  ideas.

4
Committee Membership

• Classroom Teachers
• Counselors
• Area Career Center Administrators
• Principals
• Superintendents
• School Board Members
• State Association Leaders affiliated with
  education
• Higher Education Faculty
• Business/Industry Association Leaders
• DESE Staff

5
Primary Areas of Focus for the High School Task
Force

• Graduation Requirements
• Graduation Exit Exams
• Differentiated Diplomas
• Principles for High School Reform

6
Discussion What Should a HS Graduate Look
Like?

• Strong academic skills equivalent to what we
  understand today as entry level into college,
  career education, and the work force
• Interest and capacity to be a lifelong
  learner/teacher
• Knowledge of self
• Self-discipline
• Self-confidence
• Self-advocate
• Contributor to the community and the world

7
Issue 1 Graduation Requirements

• Should the number of credits for graduation in MO
  be changed?
• If so,
• How many total credits should be required?
• How many credits should be required in certain
  content areas?
• What is the relationship between the content area
  requirements and the state standards and
  expectations?
• Can a school petition to use an alternative form
  of graduation requirements that better meets
  student needs?
• What are the anticipated positive and negative
  impacts of increasing graduation requirements?

8
Current Missouri Graduation Requirements Minimum
and College Preparatory Certificate

• Subject State Minimum College Prep. Cert.
• Communication Arts 3 4
• Math 2 3
• Science 2 2
• Social Studies 2 3
• Fine Arts 1 1
• Practical Arts 1 1
• Physical Education 1 1
• Electives 10 9
• Minimum Units
• Required 22 24

9
Graduation Credit Recommendation

• 24 Credits
• Communication Arts 4
• Social Studies 3
• Mathematics 3
• Science 3
• Fine Arts and/or Practical Arts 2
• PE 1
• Health Education ½
• Electives 7 ½
• Personal Economics written into the requirements,
  similar to the Constitution requirement
• Credits earned are competency-based, structured
  around the MO standards/grade-level expectations.
• Credits are not defined as specific courses, thus
  providing flexibility to districts to define the
  courses that address the standards/grade-level
  expectations.

10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
Comparison of Existing MO Graduation Requirements
with Recommended Requirements
14
Anticipated Impact

• Probable dip in of graduates until program
  changes in schools are designed and implemented
  that address student deficiencies and provide
  support
• Concerns from schools about increasing staffing
  to meet new requirements
• Concerns from schools about existing schedules
  and ability to offer enough units of credit so a
  student can earn an average of six per year,
  especially students traveling to career education
  schools
• Public view that graduates will be more competent
  because
• they will have earned more credits in academic
  areas
• they will have earned credits defined by the MO
  standards and expectations, not by district
  course titles or through seat time
• More creative approaches to designing the high
  school experience because graduation requirements
  based upon standards and expectations give
  schools/districts more flexibility than
  graduation requirements driven by specific
  courses
• Increased professional development for staff to
  effectively implement standards-driven
  graduation requirements
• Resources will be needed to support the changes
  that may occur with increased graduation
  requirements
• Necessity to re-evaluate current emphasis on
  using seat-time as the basis for the distribution
  of resources (Specifically, evolve away from
  Average Daily Attendance to Membership for fiscal
  computation)

15
Existing Policy for Alternative,Performance-Based
Graduation

• Increasingly, educators and others are
  recognizing that completing a specified number of
  units of credit does not ensure that students
  will obtain the knowledge, competencies and
  skills that are considered essential to success
  in postsecondary studies or on the job. The State
  Board of Education has authorized the Department
  of Elementary and Secondary Education to waive
  the standard graduation requirements for school
  districts that wish to develop and implement
  performance-based graduation standards as an
  alternative to the credit-based requirements. Any
  school district interested in this alternative
  should contact the Supervision Section for
  information and guidance in developing such a
  system
• (Graduation requirements for students in
  Missouris public schools Guidelines for
  principals, counselors and other school
  personnel, 2002, p.12).

16
Issue 2 Graduation Exit Exam

• Should all graduates take an exit exam as a
  requirement for graduation?
• If so,
• Should a minimum score or scores be required for
  graduation (high stakes)?
• When should the exam be given
• end of specific courses
• end of graduation (meaning during the junior year
  so there is time to retake)
• How often should the exam be given (how many
  opportunities for retake?)
• What type of exam would be most appropriate?
• What resources should be provided to help
  students who have difficulty with the exam?

17
Exit Exam Recommendation

• Task Force recommends
• implement a statewide, Show-Me Standards/GLE-based
  high school assessment (exit exam) that
  displaces the current high school MAP assessment
• the assessment be some form of national,
  standardized test with a Missouri add-on
  component
• the assessment be phased-in over multiple
  years, not immediately implemented
• that the assessment be given during the junior
  year and directly correlated to assessments given
  during the prior high school years
• Task Force did not have consensus on whether the
  assessment be high stakes or non-high stakes
  thus the recommendation of a non-high stakes
  assessment.

18
Anticipated Impact

• Public will view schools as more accountable
• by measuring the level of knowledge and
  competence for each graduate
• by reporting that knowledge and competence level
  throughout the state
• Increased student success as schools/districts
  design and implement strategies for early
  intervention and remediation as well as
  enrichment and advanced study grounded in the
  expectations of the assessment
• Students will see more relevance of exam to
  college entrance or work force and thus take the
  assessment more seriously than they currently
  take the MAP
• Increased post-secondary enrollment as students
  who might not otherwise have predictive data will
  be encouraged to take post-secondary study
• Reduction in remediation coursework necessary in
  post-secondary education if the process increases
  graduates competencies for the standards

19
Issue 3 Differentiated Diplomas

• Should MO high schools provide different types of
  diplomas to recognize different levels of
  competence, focus, or experiences during the high
  school years?
• If so, should the diploma differentiate?
• academic success like GPA
• academic focus/major like science emphasis
• advanced program like AP, IB
• extra-curricular participation
• document standardized test scores
• show work and citizenship habits
• etc.

20
Differentiated Diploma Recommendation

• Task Force recommends
• The implementation across the state of a minimum
  two-tiered diploma program.
• Tier one would be a basic diploma representing
  the earning of 24 credits.
• Tier two would represent the earning of at least
  24 credits and a state specified score on the
  state graduation assessment. The specified score
  would be established once adequate data have been
  collected to determine an appropriate score.
• The Task Force also recommends that the state
  encourage all districts to implement additional
  tiers if the use of additional tiers meets the
  districts community needs and expectations.

21
Anticipated Impact

• Students, parents, and community will adapt their
  thinking to a multi-tiered diploma system
• More frequent use of the diploma as an employment
  tool
• Increased motivation among students to achieve to
  their fullest potential on the assessment
• Diploma holds students more directly accountable
  for their assessment score
• Increases parent awareness of student achievement
  level
• Reduction in remediation costs for business and
  industry and post-secondary education as
  students competencies improve over time and are
  formally documented on the diploma, i.e. a
  certain level of diploma may be associated with a
  certain level of competence

22
Issue 4 Principles for HS Reform

• Task Force had little time to discuss the issue
• Task Force had consensus that a set of
  principles that could guide the work of high
  schools would be beneficial
• Principles could be developed from existing High
  School Reform literature and projects such as
• Breaking Ranks
• The Productive High School
• Project Lead The Way
• High Schools that Work
• High Schools with Results
• Effective high school reform will require
  involvement and commitment on the part of all
  stakeholders statewide
• In addition to the policy recommendations
  contained within this report, this Task Force
  strongly endorses the commissioning of a
  statewide committee to conduct a detailed study
  and develop a set of principles of high school
  reform grounded in the research knowledge about
  best practice. The broad principles and general
  guidelines for change would be appropriate for
  all schools to address. More specific
  recommendations of the changes appropriate to
  individual schools should be left to the
  individual districts and their high schools.

23
Technology

• Task Force had consensus that technology
• must be an integral part of the educational
  experience
• could be used to supplement curriculum, support
  effective instruction, and be a resource for
  student documentation of competence
• must be expanded across the state and embedded in
  local curriculum and instruction in order to
  effectively prepare future graduates for the
  world of work and higher education

24
Collective Picture of Change

• Task Force provides three major policy
  recommendations
• Graduation requirements
• Exit Examinations
• Differentiated Diplomas
• These interrelated recommendations form a package
  of change bigger than the sum of their parts
• The recommendations provide a basis for change
  and do so in a manner that allows school/district
  flexibility and creativity rather than constraint

25
Graduation Requirements
Missouri Show-Me Standards and Grade Level
Expectations
Differentiated Diplomas
Exit Assessment
26
Back to the Policy Challenge

• Todays high school generally looks the same as
  it did thirty years ago
• Todays students and societys needs are
  drastically different
• The challenge is to implement state policy that
  will foster creativity and reform so our high
  schools meet the educational needs as they are
  today and as we anticipate they will be in the
  future