[Vision2020] Idaho Requires Credits to Enter High School

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (August 18, 2010) Spokesman-Review.

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Idaho requires credits to enter high school

BOISE – The state will start keeping score in middle school, requiring
students in seventh and eighth grades to complete at least 80 percent of
their class credits before they advance to the next grade.

Until now, students did not have to pass those grades to continue on to
high school.

“Students understand that middle level doesn’t count,” said Rob Saur, the
state Department of Education’s deputy superintendent for innovation and
choice. “Now they can say, ‘I have some responsibility in this.'”

Under the new system, which will go into effect this fall, students will
not advance to the next grade if they fail a full year in one subject,
such as math. Schools will provide students who fail to meet the new
requirements, or kids in danger of failing, opportunities to recover their
class credits and become eligible to go to the next grade.

The Middle Level Credit System was among recommendations of a state task
force that was created in 2007 to develop best practices for Idaho middle
schools, with the goal of making sure every student is prepared to succeed
in high school.

The new policy, which goes into effect this fall, will allow Idaho
teachers to hold middle school students more accountable, said state
Department of Education spokeswoman Melissa Mcgrath.

“It’s an issue because you hear from these students who are very capable,
but they don’t think school counts until ninth or 10th grade,” Mcgrath
said.

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Ah, yes . . . the ninth grade.  I have such fond memories of the ninth
grade, probably the most interesting three years of my life.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho