An e-mail from a reader to YES! Weekly reporter Keith T. Barber and myself a couple days ago alerted us that Guilford County Schools and other North Carolina local education authorities now allow students to receive a high school diploma without passing the Computer Skills Test or Competency Test in Reading and Math.
The computer skills test first became a requirement for graduation with the Class of 2001, while the reading and math competency requirement went into effect in 1982.
I'm not an education reporter anymore (I toiled in those trenches in northern New Mexico in 2003 and 2004), and I can't say I keep up with education reporting in any of our state's daily newspapers, but this seems like kind of a big deal. Has there been any discussion about whether we should be graduating kids who don't meet these requirements, or whether our public schools are serving children by reducing standards?
This reader forwarded a document created by the NC Department of Public Instruction entitled "Transition Plan for Competency and Computer Skills." It traces this decision back to the NC General Assembly.
It states that the department eliminated the tests to comply with Senate Bill 202/SL 2009-451 (this year's budget). Students who have failed to meet the competency requirements are being offered the opportunity to receive high school diplomas.
Students currently enrolled, the transition plan states, "are no longer required to meet the competency or computer skills standards."
Students not currently enrolled who did not achieve proficiency on the reading and math competency test or the computer skills test "may petition their former school for a diploma."
UPDATE: OK, so I'm not totally living in the twilight zone. This story has been covered in the News & Record and other papers. Just goes to show I need to read my daily newspaper more often.
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