INDIANAPOLIS — As the Indiana State Board of Education weighs changing the state's high school diploma standards, educators are wondering why changes are necessary.
The SBOE met Wednesday to hear from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education on new standards for high school students. The proposed changes would rename diplomas to make graduation tracks easier to understand, as well as add to the number of credit hours needed.
The board could vote on the changes at its next meeting on Nov. 4. If approved, the diploma change would take effect at the start of the 2018-19 school year and 2022 would be the first year the diplomas would be handed out.
Jason Bearce, with the Commission for Higher Education, said the new standards partly resulted from discussions with universities that said students weren't prepared when coming to college.
The new standards include more math classes, with four years of math now required. The new diplomas would be renamed as well. The breakdown would be "workforce ready" requiring 40 credit hours; "college and career ready," requiring 44 hours; and "college and career ready with honors," requiring 48 credit hours. The state's current "Core 40 with academic honors" diploma is the hardest to achieve, requiring 47 credit hours.
Bearce said renaming the diplomas would cut down on confusion for students, parents and counselors. The new standards would help ensure students are ready for college.
But school officials are wary of possible difficulties stemming from the proposed changes. Brad Schneider, superintendent of Warrick County School Corp., said anytime there's a major change, it can be a difficult for schools.
Schneider said he thought any proposed changes were supposed to help prepare students for college. He doesn't think changing diploma requirements will achieve that.
"I think we send too many kids to college now," he said. "I think too often we miss the boat on two-year degrees or apprenticeships."
Bearce said the emphasis on math was a request from colleges , which have to put a lot of students through remedial classes.
Velinda Stubbs, deputy superintendent for teaching and learning at Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp., said the new math requirements could cause problems.
"For students who struggle with math, that could be a concern," Stubbs said. "It may limit some of their other opportunities."
If a student fails a math class, they would have to make up the class the following year, while simultaneously taking another math class. Stubbs said that could lead to fewer opportunities to take other classes. Currently, students are only required to take three years of math.
Plus, new math classes mean more math teachers, which both Stubbs and Schneider mentioned as an issue.
"I see additional expenses with this," Schneider said. "We're going to have to hire new teachers."
Stubbs said math is one of the areas EVSC has the hardest time finding qualified teachers.
In addition to more math, students will also be required to take a one-credit-hour class for college as well as classes on career readiness and personal and financial responsibility.
Fine arts and world languages would no longer be required under the new proposal. Students can still take those classes, Stubbs said, but the opportunities would be less readily available.