John Danahy
jdanahy@turbonet.com
----------
> From: Priscilla Salant <psalant@moscow.com>
> To: JDANAHY@turbonet.com; Vision2020 <vision2020@moscow.com>
> Subject: Re: New Graduation Requirements
> Date: Tuesday, November 25, 1997 5:35 PM
>
> Thanks to John D for reporting about the Nov 12 curriculum mtgs.
>
> The mtg I attended did not focus on specific graduations requirements,
but
> instead on priorities for secondary education in Moscow. Therefore, we
> couldn't possibly have come up with specific suggestions like those
listed
> in John's summary. I am curious about whether people at the other mtgs
> were this focused, or whether the curriculum committee translated the
> feedback in some way. Thoughts on this John, or anyone else who
attended?
>
> --Priscilla Salant
>
> ----------
> > From: John Danahy <JDANAHY@turbonet.com>
> > To: Vision2020 <vision2020@moscow.com>
> > Subject: New Graduation Requirements
> > Date: Tuesday, November 25, 1997 11:32 AM
> >
> > On November 12th a series of meetings was held thruout the Moscow
School
> > District on what our new graduation requirements should be. While
> turnout
> > was low, the feedback was excellent. Attendance at the five meetings
> was:
> > Junior High 40, Lena Whitmore 18, Russell 7, Mcdonald 18, West Park 18,
> > Written responses 11
> >
> > There will be a second district wide meeting on December 3 in the
> > Multi-purpose room at the Junior High to continue taking imput from the
> > public.
> >
> > A compilation of the results of the November 12th meetings is listed
> below.
> >
> > Proposed graduation requirements in approximate order of their
importance
> > to those who attended and/or sent written comments.
> >
> > 1) Continue to offer world history and world geography as discrete
> classes
> > and require students to take them.
> >
> > 2) Increase the total credits required for graduation to either 44 or
46.
> > (current 42)
> >
> > 3) Require a minimum 2.0 GPA in the identified core classes. (Some
would
> > argue the core class list is incomplete)
> >
> > 4) Maintain the current PE requirement - however there were a number
who
> > disagreed and also a number who believe we should consider a waiver for
> one
> > or more PE credits.
> >
> > 5) Require more than 4 credits in math
> >
> > 6) Maintain the same requirements listed under the Class of 2001
> >
> > 7) We need not be afraid of change. Stepping outside the curricular
> "box"
> > and asking ourselves why we have these requirements and do we still
need
> to
> > do things this way are appropriate questions to ask ourselves.
> >
> > 8) Whatever they are, graduation requirements must meet most college
> > entrance requirements.
> >
> > 9) Keep requirements low to allow for lots of student selection.
> >
> > 10) We need to determine how many correspondence courses we will allow
> for
> > graduation.
> >
> > 11) A foreign language should be required.
> >
> > 12) Drop many of the graduation requirements and replace them with a
> > complete, linear plan for career exploration, a plan of educated choice
> for
> > students and parents.
> >
> > 13) Reinstate the reading requirement and allow students to test out
> >
> > 14) Eliminate the humanities requirement
> >
> > 15) Require 1 credit of community service
> >
> > 16) Maintain the 90% attendance rule and strictly enforce it.
> >
> > Other issues that are not directly related to graduation requirements
> >
> > Priority items are
> >
> > 1) Provide Advanced Placement opportunities
> >
> > 2) Consider a career pathways format for all secondary students
> >
> > 3) Vocational offerings should not be required for graduation but we
> should
> > have more applied academics - And they should not be dumped down
classes
> >
> > 4) A service learning offering might be a possible elective
> >
> > Other considerations (in random order)
> >
> > Have social studies 1,2,3,4 and integrate all subjects into each class.
> >
> > We need not necessarily keep the same order we always have with
> Government
> > and one English class exclusively for seniors
> >
> > Dual credit should continue for college classes taken by high school
> > students. We touched lightly upon the issue of who foots the bill
> >
> > Go to a more flexible schedule - possibly trimester
> >
> > We need a curriculum that holds kids in school and it needs to be
> flexible
> >
> > PE might be required every day for every one, but not be a graduation
> > requirement. PE should be offered in more creative ways
> >
> > Even college bound students need to take vocational classes because
they
> > may need to work to pay for college.
> >
> > Parents need curriculum guides and syllabi, perhaps on a web site, so
> they
> > can discuss at home with their students the classes the students should
> > take.
> >
> > Study skills should be taught at 7th grade or earlier for all students
> >
> > Foreign language offerings should begin in elementary schools
> >
> > Add Spanish 5 and French 4 to the high school
> >
> > All PE classes should be on a pass/fail basis
> >
> > "I rather see students performing at a generally passing level in their
> > classes than putting extra kinds of testing in place
> >
> > Create an individual education plan for all students tailored to their
> > needs and individual interests
> >
> > Institute an International Baccalaureate program in Moscow High School
> >
> > Increase PE for 7th grade to full year
> >
> > As you can see we had a variety of options and ideas proposed. Please
> feel
> > free to come and express your opinions on December 3 in the Junior High
> > mutli purpose room.
> >
> > John Danahy
> > jdanahy@turbonet.com