Class of 2001 faces toughest standards

Legislation passed in 1997 has drastically raised standards for this year's graduating class.

By ROBERT KING

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 6, 2000

School boards and state legislators have been "raising the bar" for academic standards for so long that the cliche has almost lost all meaning.

But the Class of 2001 -- this year's high school senior class -- has had to leap higher than most, thanks to some sweeping legislation passed in 1997 that raised standards for high school graduation.

The reigning lords of youth must have a four-year cumulative grade-point average of 2.0 to graduate next spring. In other words, a C average through high school. The previous minimum for a diploma was 1.5.

They must take algebra, or its equivalent, to graduate. For their predecessors, algebra was a frequent course selection, but it was possible to graduate without it.

To get a C, they had to scratch for 77 or better on the 100-point grading scale. Before, students were given C's if they reached 75.

To play sports or take part in other extracurricular activities, they must keep a 2.0 grade-point average.

And when the state lawmakers weren't raising the bar, Hernando School Board members were.

For their first two years of high school, Hernando County's Class of 2001 wasn't allowed to make a D in math, English or foreign languages. After hearing that some hard-working students were finding the C unattainable, the board reinstated the D.

Members of the Class of 2001 say the higher requirements haven't gone unnoticed. Yet some say the demands haven't been too much to handle.

"I noticed it, but it wasn't a big deal," said Nicole Cournoyer, who is 17 and a senior at Springstead High School this year. "If you work hard, it's not a big deal. It was (a big deal) just for the slackers."

Christina Roe, a 17-year-old senior-to-be at Central High, said she is aware of a couple of friends who have struggled to make a 2.0. As someone who has participated in basketball, track and band, she has seen them buckle down to keep their eligibility for extracurricular activities. But for her, she said, the standards haven't been much of a struggle.

"It's just going to push you harder to excel," Roe said. "I'd rather have them set higher standards to make us get good grades."

Things were so tough that, after their first year of high school, one-third of the members of the Class of 2001 were on pace to miss graduation. Alarm bells were going off in the district office. Yet officials expect the grades have improved as students grew more familiar with what is expected of them. Still, nobody will know for sure until spring.

"I don't anticipate that we are going to have a higher dropout rate than in the past," said Charles Casciotta, who oversees middle and high school curriculum in Hernando County.

Melody Whitaker, a guidance counselor at Hernando High, said she thinks students are under a lot more stress these days. Not just because of the new standards, but also because of a lifestyle that has them holding down jobs for more than 20 hours a week in addition to school.

At the same time, Whitaker said that meeting standards is a part of life. Kids, she said, are notorious for doing the bare minimum. "I think the kids will do what they have to," she said. "If all someone has to be is mediocre, they will be mediocre."

Recently, the School Board added one more item to the checklist. The board agreed to prevent this year's seniors from walking on graduation night unless they have passed the High School Competency Test, a basic skills exam. An exception will be allowed for students who graduate with a special education diploma but who can't pass the HSCT.

Already, regular education students who cannot pass the test are denied a standard diploma, even though they might manage to obtain the necessary 24 high school course credits for graduation.

Instead they receive a certificate of completion and an invitation to come back and take the HSCT as many times as they'd like. District officials say only a handful of students from each school fail the HSCT each year after getting the needed 24 credits.

Still, it would be shortsighted to pity the poor seniors without considering that the standards only keep getting tougher for the classes behind them.

The 10th-grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is generally considered much harder than the HSCT. Now, it is about to become the exit exam for high school students.

Also, earlier this summer, the School Board eliminated a policy that basically gave students a free ticket to lollygag after they failed a grade in middle school. That policy, which said students could be kept in middle school for no more than four years, basically left struggling students no incentive to work after they got their one failing year behind them.

Even at the elementary level, the vice grip is tightening.

A state law that took effect last spring requires schools to retain fourth-graders with a history of reading troubles if they cannot pass the FCAT. For those kids, their only out is an exemption from the School Board.

At every grade level, the state has set specific expectations for what students should know and be able to do. "That means that expectations are more difficult than ever," said Elaine Wooten, who oversees elementary curriculum.

In third grade, children are being taught about the pyramids, the road system of the Roman Empire, the camel caravans. "We are asking them to learn ancient history when they don't even know they live in Florida," she said.

Things are at the point where third-graders have science and social studies requirements far beyond earlier generations -- this during a period when reading, writing and math are the focus of high-stakes achievement tests.

"At this time, we feel like they are asking far more than time allows," Wooten said.

The all-important, life-or-death nature of the FCAT tests is also buffeting the standards. With the FCAT exams looming ahead in fourth and fifth grade, schools are not as eager to promote students who are not ready. Though numbers aren't yet available to prove it, the result, according to Wooten, is likely to be more kids failing at a younger age.

"We are definitely retaining more," she said.

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