Graduation rates could fall for some Indiana high schools as the result of a new law that limits the percentage of students who graduate with waivers — at least for the purpose of graduation rate accountability.
House Enrolled Act 1635 also makes a significant change in use of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test to meet graduation requirements.
The concern is that too many students may have used the test as an “easier” graduation path without intending to enter the military.
Under the new law, waivers can account for no more than 9% of reported graduates for 2023-24; 6% in 2024-25 and 3% each year after.
Waivers are an exemption from certain graduation requirements, often used in the past because a student couldn’t pass the state graduation qualifying exam.
The law doesn’t restrict the number of waivers a district can grant, but it impacts what districts can report as part of their graduation rates.
Numbers above those limits are considered as not graduating for reporting purposes; however, the students can still receive their diploma and graduate.
For some districts, the change could mean a significant drop in reported graduation rates in future years.
“Kids can continue to get a waiver, but for purposes of reporting, the graduation rate will decrease” if limits are exceeded, according to state Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, the bill’s author who chairs the House Education Committee.
The reason for the limits is that some districts have over-used waivers, Behning said. There have been “some really big abusers.”
One report indicated that in 2019, nearly a quarter of Black students graduated with a waiver, according to Stateaffairs.com, citing data from Business Equity for Indy.
Behning describes some of the over-use of waivers as “unconscionable. It’s not that these kids can’t learn; the systems we have in place are not meeting their needs,” Behning said.
Behning added there is no penalty to the students for the new reporting requirements.
Indiana has gotten away from requiring passage of a single standardized test, and now students must meet Graduation Pathways that allows them to individualize their graduation requirement based on their post-secondary goals.
The Class of 2023 was the first that had to meet Graduation Pathway requirements, although schools could have opted in earlier.
Under Pathways, students have to earn credits necessary for a high school diploma; learn and demonstrate employability skills and demonstrate a postsecondary-readiness competency.
Under Pathways, waivers are available for those who can’t meet the post-secondary readiness competency; students must still meet diploma requirements and those for employability skills.
Those post-secondary-readiness competency options include an honors diploma; SAT; ACT; ASVAB; industry recognized certification; federally recognized apprenticeship; CTE concentrator and an AP/dual credit/CLEP option.
Because of the options and flexibility, Graduation Pathways could potentially lessen the need for waivers.
“It should significantly decrease the need for waivers,” Behning said. “We don’t have the graduation qualifying exam to pass anymore.”
The Graduation Pathways was required for the graduating class of 2023 and beyond, but it could have been used a few years earlier.
“We want schools to meet the needs of kids. That’s what we’re trying to focus on,” Behning said.
But other than a potential drop in reported rates, schools face no other consequences, he said.
“So many schools like to shout out their graduation rates are 93%, 94% or 95%. And all of a sudden it’s going to drop down, it could drop down, fairly precipitously. I would hope that the public would be saying, hey what happened?” Behning said.
The Indiana Association of School Principals testified against the change.
“What we were trying to say is let’s be patient,” said Tim McRoberts, IASP associate executive director.
The class of 2023 is the first group required to meet Graduation Pathways.
Much of the waiver data pre-dates that and is based on a graduation qualifying exam that no longer is used.
“Are there schools that are probably waiving too many kids? Yes. The data is the data,” McRoberts said.
But the number of waivers has started to decrease. He believes as the more flexible Pathways continues to be implemented, the number of waivers will continue to decrease.
Fewer graduates used a waiver in 2022 compared to 2021, according to WFYI Indianapolis. Nearly 79% graduated without a waiver in 2021 and almost 81% in 2022.
The concern is that those receiving waivers may not be adequately prepared for post-secondary education.
McRoberts believes the problem “would have taken care of itself had the Legislature been patient.”
Schools “can always do better, but I don’t think principals give out those waivers frivolously,” he said.
The Indiana State Teachers Association opposes the changes as well. “While we value the introduction of multiple pathways to graduation, we’re concerned about potential negative impacts on graduation rates, especially in disadvantaged districts,” said ISTA President Keith Gambill.
Chris Lubienski, director of the IU Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, said legislators apparently “thought some districts were taking advantage” of the waiver too much.
“They saw a need to pull back on that pretty tightly,” but are implementing the changes gradually so districts have an opportunity to adjust, he said.
For the Vigo County School Corp., the 2022 graduation rate was 78.4% with waivers, and 72.6% without waivers.
Asked about HEA 1635, superintendent Chris Himsel provided the following statement:
“The goal of the Vigo County School Corp. remains the same, to get our students across the stage on graduation day, for each to leave the VCSC with a high school diploma and meaningful education for a successful future. The goal is to increase academic and technical honors, which in turn will mean that we have decreased the need for waivers because we are meeting the basic needs of our students and community.”
HEA 1635 also makes a significant change in use of the the ASVAB — or Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery — to meet Pathway requirements.
Under the change, students who take the test to meet graduation requirements “must have a signed Military Enlistment Intent form on file acknowledging their intent to enlist in the military following high school graduation.”
The form does not commit them to enlistment. “You can’t tell anyone they have to enlist … that’s against the law,” McRoberts said.
According to StateAffairs.com, in the 2021-2022 school year, more than 13,000 students used the ASVAB test to graduate; it cited the Indiana Department of Education’s public database. Only a small percentage used their student test to enlist in 2022, State Affairs reported.
A student needs a score of 31 out of 99 to graduate, the minimum necessary to enlist in the Army and some of the other military branches.
The concern is that too many students may have used the test as an “easier” graduation path without intending to enter the military.
“We want to get away from blanket usage of something that appears to be fairly easy and is not providing kids any type of currency” in meeting post-secondary goals, Behning said.
If someone does not plan to go into the military, “The ASVAB means nothing to any employer” and most don’t know what it is, he said.
IASP objected to the ASVAB changes, McRoberts said. The Graduation Pathways system took full effect last year and already the Legislature is making changes.
“That’s very disappointing to us that they’re already making a change to a new graduation system which really never even had a chance,” he said.
Members of the Class of 2024 who took the test prior to July 1 of this year and received a score of 31 or higher are grandfathered and don’t have to sign the military enlistment intent form.
It might cause some to be “disingenuous” if it’s the only way a student can earn a diploma; they may sign the form, but no one can force the child to enlist, McRoberts said.
Some schools provide the test to students for career exploration; for those who passed, a counselor may have checked it off toward pathway requirements — even if the student later earned an academic honors diploma or scored well on AP exams, which also meet pathway requirements.
“You only have to select one,” McRoberts said.
“I think some of those numbers were inflated,” he said. “I think again, had they [Legislature] exercised a little patience, the principals association could have helped get that corrected.”
ISTA also opposed the changes.
“We believe that the ASVAB can be a valuable tool for career exploration and opportunities for students, and students’ plans can change. We must consider unforeseen circumstances that could alter a student’s path,” Gambill said.