New graduation requirements will defeat state board’s own goals

“You know, man, this math ... I can’t do it. Swear to God, I’m dropping out tomorrow.” This was just what I heard passing by a table in the library today. Among my peers, it’s a pretty common sentiment. Though the graduation rate at my school is a strong 88 percent, higher than the district average of 83 percent, graduation is still a struggle for many.

Our Kentucky Board of Education has just approved changes to our standards of graduation, changes that ultimately will keep the board from accomplishing its main goal of college and career readiness.

Our state school board wants to require a proficiency exam in math and reading in 10th grade, ensure that students are “transition-ready” and abolish Algebra II as a requirement. These are all in direct conflict with each other.

My teachers often groan when administering the (increasingly frequent) standardized tests, complaining that the time taken to test students is wasting the time needed to teach what is being tested. This begs the question of how exactly our board expects us to learn the material needed for the proposed testing, especially when recent budget cuts are already severely impacting the student-teacher ratio and materials necessary for learning.

I’m also unable to see the value in sitting us down for long exams when the end goal is to prepare us for our future careers; after all, how often do adults sit down and take tests to demonstrate competence to their employer? It’s hardly realistic. It also doesn’t take into account the students who struggle with testing anxiety, who will be unable to perform well on such a high-stakes test at such a young age.

While on the topic of critical exams, the ACT (or perhaps another college entrance exam in the future) is the foundation of Kentucky’s college readiness criteria. While placing so much emphasis on one test to measure something as abstract as “readiness” is strange in and of itself, what truly baffles me is the proposed removal of Algebra II in conjunction with increased attention to college and career readiness.

It’s laughably clear that our state board of education doesn’t know what’s on the ACT. As any Kentucky high schooler (or a quick Google search) can tell you, the ACT does in fact test Algebra II topics. Additionally, removing Algebra II would take away the lowest of the problem-solving based math classes. In a national school system that struggles with conceptual critical thinking, this takes away vital exposure to higher-level thinking that is an unspoken requirement for every career.

Overall, it’s clear that no one involved in drafting these proposals talked to a student. I am not extraordinary; any of my peers could have told you the same thing.

As someone who’s currently going through a Kentucky high school and has siblings who will be affected by these new standards, I can say that these well-intended proposals will not accomplish our board’s noble goal.

Instead, there should be more focus on bolstering the standard of teaching and giving our teachers the materials to do their jobs well. This includes funding, as well as more respect for their time and devotion. There should be more consultation with students who will actually be impacted by any decisions. It’s hard to dictate how a high schooler’s career will go when those doing the dictating are so disconnected from what happens in our schools.

This story was originally published October 3, 2018 at 7:59 PM.