| Alameda County, CA | November 4, 2008 Election |
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Graduation RequirementsBy Dan CunninghamCandidate for Board Member; Dublin Unified School District |
This information is provided by the candidate | |
The Dublin High School Class of 2012 will be the first class to face the new higher graduation requirements put in place by the School Board. It is imperative that we have programs in place to ensure all Dublin sudents succeed.As part of the Dublin Unified School District focus on improving the results in the district, the School Board implemented new graduation requirements that take effect for the Class of 2012. These new requirements parallel the A-G entrance requirements of the University of California and the California State University systems. The changes in requirements include: 1) An increase in mathematics to three years during grades 9-12 including Algebra II 2) An increase in science to three years during grades 9-12 including two years of a lab science 3) Two years of a foreign language (one may be completed in middle school and must be in the same language). The foreign language requirement is effective with the class of 2013. 4) The requirement for applied or fine arts will be one year. The total required academic credits have been increased from 155 to 185 and elective credits have been reduced from 75 to 45 credits. The total number of credits required for graduation remains the same at 230 credits. It is encouraging to see that the district saw the need for increasing the rigor for graduating from Dublin High School. Like the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) the concept is great but the execution appears to be off. The district's approach for the new graduation requirements was "Ready, Fire, Aim". There currently are not enough programs in place to handle the student that struggles to meet these new stringent requirements. The district needs to relook at the execution of this program. Raising the standards for the sake of being able to say "Dublin has the toughest graduation requirements in the Valley" does not work. We need to have the highest requirements but also the programs in place to ensure that no Dublin student is "left behind". It would be tragic to have the highest standards in the Tri-Valley and not the corresponding highest graduation rate as well. In addition to the issue above, what happens to the student that transfers in to the district from another district that does not have the same standards? We need to have a system in place to bring these students up to our standards so that they can succeed. It's important that we prepare our students for whatever path they wish to pursue after high school. Part of the preparation is having the programs in place that start in elementary school and truly prepares our students for success. |
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ca/alm Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 2, 2008 10:53
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