Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Look at Roanoke for school accreditation policy
From the RoundTable blog
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Hank Bostwick and Sarah Geddes
Bostwick, a former teacher, is a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley in Roanoke. Geddes is a staff attorney with JustChildren, a project of the Legal Aid Justice Center in Richmond
It is more important to do the right thing than to be fully accredited. That is the approach taken by Rita Bishop, superintendent of the Roanoke City Public Schools, and that is the policy the state should adopt when linking school accreditation to graduation rates. Instead of recognizing schools with high rates of graduation alternatives, Virginia should take a page out of Bishop's book and promote diploma graduation.
Roanoke has two strong leaders in the movement toward addressing our dropout crisis and producing graduates ready for college, work and life. Bishop, who knows the inherent value of a high school diploma and has referred to it as "the gatekeeper for the rest of [a student's] life," is one. Del. William Fralin, who has authored legislation requiring the Virginia Board of Education to adopt a uniform formula for graduation rates, is the other.
Leadership in our corner of the commonwealth is essential, but Virginia needs a smart accreditation system that will seal the deal for schools across the state.
Any accreditation system adopted by the commonwealth must provide incentives for moving students toward high-value academic credentials, like standard and advanced diplomas. Alternative credentials, such as GEDs and modified diplomas for students with disabilities, play an important role in recognizing the achievements of those prevented from earning a traditional diploma by the circumstances of life.
But these credentials are far less valuable to students when it comes to college and workplace readiness. Our accreditation system should reward high schools for planning early, having high expectations and, ultimately, for leading students to achieve the highest attainable credential.
Virginia's graduation rate requirements also should comport with national standards and trends. During the 2006 legislative session, Fralin pressed for the commonwealth to adopt the National Governors' Association graduation rate formula, which only recognizes diplomas. Thanks to Fralin's efforts Virginia schools must report their graduation rates on this national standard starting this fall.
However, even though schools across the commonwealth will now report graduation rates in a uniform way, and in the way widely viewed as the best available measure to determine if a school is preparing its students for the real world, the proposed index to be used for accreditation gives a lot of weight to credentials that the NGA formula does not recognize.
Any accreditation system adopted by Virginia should work to close the graduation gap and the "gap within the gap." Earlier this month, the Schott Foundation released a 50-state report showing a gap of 21 percentage points between the graduation rates of black males (54 percent) and white males (75 percent) in Virginia.
A closer look at the students who actually complete high school in Virginia reveals another disheartening gap: white students earned advanced diplomas in much greater numbers than black students. In Roanoke, white students are twice as likely to earn an advanced diploma as black students.
Most public and private four-year institutions in Virginia will not accept a standard diploma without additional coursework. Considering the importance of an advanced diploma in the realm of post-secondary education, these numbers reveal fundamental inequities that need to be addressed.
Over the next weeks and months, Virginia's Department of Education will seek public comment regarding what the commonwealth's accreditation system should look like, and everyone is entitled to be heard in the process.
Much is at stake for Virginia's public high school students, and it is time that we did the right thing.
