All this talk about alternative graduation requirements has me thinking day and night about our requirements for students. The past two days we've written blogs about DISD students and Dallas graduation requirements. The article that sparked it all was this DMN article about letting kids sidestep the STAAR tests and graduate anyway. We'll be talking about this idea on our weekly Dallas education podcast to come out on Monday, but what has me really in thought this morning? The wrong and mixed signals we are sending our kids.
There are a wealth of opportunities that can truly get our kids excited. In Dallas ISD there are a number if issues we need to address before our students can reach the success we all wish for them. Students in Dallas ISD can't read. That's a big problem. We send them mixed signals by telling them reading is important but making tests and materials at a middle school level. We make that problem worse by sending them the message that the tests aren't important which is why they cheat, just learn to test instead of learning material, and now, just blow the tests off because they don't need to pass. Why are we sending the wrong signals? Why are we letting DISD students get credit even when they don't show up? Why are we giving them grades but only allowed to fail 15% of students in Dallas ISD?
What we are telling our students is that if they just hang around long enough they can graduate. We are producing students in DISD that are unprepared for the world and giving them DISD diplomas that are worthless because they didn't have to do anything to earn them. If we keep lowering the bar, our students are the ones who will suffer. Our kids are capable of great things, let's show them we actually believe that by holding them to a high standard.
What we are telling our students is that if they just hang around long enough they can graduate. We are producing students in DISD that are unprepared for the world and giving them DISD diplomas that are worthless because they didn't have to do anything to earn them. If we keep lowering the bar, our students are the ones who will suffer. Our kids are capable of great things, let's show them we actually believe that by holding them to a high standard.
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