Board of Education to take action on the recommendation on January 27 New graduation requirements recommended to Board of Education as part of move to new high school semester schedule for 2015-16 On Tuesday, January 13, the Graduation Requirements Work Group presented their recommendations to the Board of Education regarding new high school graduation requirements. This group is one of seven work groups in the District working on moving to a new high school six period/semester schedule for the 2015-16 school year. The other work groups are: Course Offerings, Staff Professional Development and Communications, Logistics and Technical Structures, Expanded Learning Options, Student Support and Remediation and Middle School Impacts. The Work Group recommended to the Board that students must have 22 total credits to graduate for the class of 2019 and beyond. The 22 credits include: English Language Arts - NEW 4 credits; Current 4 credits The new English courses will be structured to align with the State of Michigan requirements for English and are divided into two areas Literature and Language. Literature courses will focus on ELA standards of Listening, Speaking and reading Literature. The Language courses will focus on the Common Core standards of Writing and Language. This move will affect the elimination of some elective courses with the work being moved to the eight required courses. Mathematics - NEW 4 credits; Current 4 credits The recommendation is to move to align the Districts math courses with the State requirements. This move mirrors the requirements of local districts who are currently running semesters with a six-period day. This change will remove Statistics as a required course. The statistics standards will then be embedded in another course. Science - NEW 3 credits; Current 3 credits The new Science requirements will meet the current high school science graduation requirements, as well as the soon to be adopted Michigan Science Standards. This move will require a shift in the length of time provided for the completion of some courses. Social Studies - NEW 3 credits; Current 3 credits The recommendation is to be the same as the State of Michigan. It was strongly felt that students, in consultation with their counselors, select the course sequence option that best suits their scheduling needs and interest in the social sciences. World Language - NEW 2 credits; Current 2 credits The District will continue to require two years of World Language but would like to offer students different pathways in which to receive their credits. One option would be to take two years in the same World Language or demonstrated equivalency. The others are that students fulfill their requirement in the middle school level or successfully complete assessments that evaluate competency in a certain language. Physical Education - NEW 1.5 (with two different options); Current 1.5 Option 1 1.5 with the .5 elective potentially exchanged to be fulfilled with three Varsity letters or four years of marching band. Option 2 1.0 with a .5 Health and a .5 Intro The work group could not come to consensus between Option 1 and 2 but agreed that both would be viable options for students. Arts - NEW 1.0 credits in any Arts; Current 1.0 credits (.5 Fine Arts/.5 Applied Arts) This recommendation allows students greater scheduling flexibility and the opportunity to focus on depth of knowledge of one arts path, rather than surface knowledge of two. This also allows students in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses to complete a program. Electives - NEW 3.5 or 4 credits; Current 9.5 credits The total elective credits, 3.5 or 4, is dependent upon the decision made about the Physical Education requirements. This recommendation aligns the District with the majority of our surrounding districts and allows students the ability to receive a well-rounded, individualized education. Electives are offered in all content areas. The full report of the Graduation Requirements Work Group that includes specialized information for each content area can be found on the Districts web site at farmington.k12.mi.us.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 23:59:08 +0000
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