Law modifies graduation requirements

Bill contains changes

HB 5 involves a few key changes, according to Edna Ramn Butts, AISD director of intergovernmental relations and policy oversight.

• The law lowers the number of standardized tests required for graduation from 15 to five end-of-course exams: English I, English II, algebra I, biology and U.S. history.
• Students must choose "endorsements," or areas of concentration, upon entering ninth grade. Options include science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM; business and industry; and arts and humanities.
• Replacing the Minimum, Recommended and Distinguished Achievement graduation plans, HB 5 implements a 22-credit Foundation diploma, which students can complete with endorsements for a total of 26 credits. HB 5 also establishes a Distinguished Level of Achievement that can be attained in endorsement programs by completing advanced science and math credits.

Endorsements and achievement levels will be noted on diplomas, Butts said.

"Most students graduate under the Recommended plan because that's sort of the default plan that the state has mandated," she explained, noting this is also known as the 4x4 plan. "The Foundation plan is more rigorous than the current Minimum plan in that it requires two years of a language other than English," she said. That is one of the requirements students must meet to apply to a Texas college or university, she said.

The new 22-credit foundation plan requires four English, three math, three science and three social studies courses.

"With the endorsements, it is a 4x4, but it gives flexibility in the third and fourth courses," Butts explained.

Currently enrolled high school students who are already on track to complete one of the existing graduation plans can continue on that path, Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said.

Another change is that while schools will continue to be rated with levels such as Academically Acceptable and Academically Unacceptable, school districts will receive A–F letter grade rankings starting with the 2014–15 school year, she said. The standards that will be used to grade districts are still being developed, she said.

Readying for implementation

Counselors from schools in Southwest Austin have met with administrators to learn how to explain HB 5 to parents, said Suzanne Burke, AISD associate superintendent for academics.

"Students and parents are going to have to take an active role earlier on," she said, explaining eighth graders need to choose endorsements when they enter ninth grade.

Monica Etter, a counselor at Clint Small Middle School, said her goal is to help students and parents make informed decisions about the new graduation plans. Starting in November, counselors explained some of the changes to all 375 eighth-grade students at Clint Small, she said.

The state does not require all high schools to offer all five endorsements, she said, explaining all school districts will be required to offer the multidisciplinary endorsement option.

The district has not yet announced which specific endorsements each school will offer, Etter said.

Students will take primarily core classes during their first two years of high school, Butts added.

Schools such as Akins High School are well-positioned to tackle HB 5's endorsement system because of existing STEM strength, Burke said.

She said the State Board of Education is expected to release a final list in January of courses needed for endorsements.

"Kids can change [the endorsements they choose]; they're not locked into it," Burke emphasized. "If they try the STEM endorsement and it doesn't work for them, they can make adjustments."

Burke said AISD will work with higher education institutions and local businesses to help students get internships and gain experience.

Southwest Austin resident Beth Freeborn said she thinks the endorsements will be a positive change for students including her son, who is a sophomore at Bowie High School.

"If this helps him to get more vocational training in high school, then that's great because that's what he needs and that's what he wants," she said.

She said HB 5 could also establish opportunities for specialized study throughout the district rather than at designated schools.

"This might help kids that maybe don't qualify for or don't want to go to those types of schools to be able to focus on something that they're interested in," she said.

Several students in Southwest Austin attend Austin High School, which already has a global studies program and culinary arts program, parent Carolyn Allen said.

"They've kind of already embraced the endorsement idea," she said.

Theresa Trevino, board member and treasurer of Texans Advocating for Meaningful State Assessment, said she is confident AISD will use its schools' strengths when implementing HB 5.

"What's needed at Bowie is going to be different from what's needed at Akins or Crockett," she said.

Preparing the workforce

Trevino said students will benefit from less standardized testing.

"Taxpayers need to understand that we're looking at how we educate the future workforce of Texas," Trevino said.

Drew Scheberle, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of education and talent development, said he hopes districts will provide applied equivalent versions of traditional classes.

"When I toured Akins [recently], I saw a welding facility. I saw precision machining," he said, noting he wants to see more.

Scheberle said the chamber supports making the Distinguished Level of Achievement part of the new default graduation plan. He said 80 percent of students statewide in the class of 2012 completed the Recommended program, and the new foundation plan plus a Distinguished Level of Achievement has lower requirements than that plan.

"Central Texans spend a lot of money on public education, and we want to make sure that they're getting well-prepared students for their taxpayer money to grow the economy," he said.