(In most cases these are excerpts. The link to the full article is given.
All bold mine
– often to point out the central role of the State Board. Sidebar – my
comments.)
2013
April 12, 2013
State Board chews on
grad guidelines
By Todd Engdahl, Chalkbeat Colorado
Sometimes
education policy can take an awfully long time to implement. Take, for
instance, pending state guidelines on what students should be able to
demonstrate they know in order to graduate from high school.
First required by a 2007 law, proposed
guidelines been under study by an advisory group. Guidelines have to be adopted
by the State Board of Education no later than May 15. The guidelines won’t
directly impact students until the graduating class of 2021.
The State Board of Education held a
long study session on the issue Thursday, and it was clear members are a
bit conflicted on the issue.
Member Elaine Gantz Berman of Denver
thought the timeline is “way too long. We’re going to lose a whole generation
of kids if we wait that long.”
Berman thought the
suggested “cut points” that determine whether or not a student can graduate are
rigorous enough, but Angelika Schroeder of Boulder said they should be tougher.
“We ought to hold school boards’ feet to the fire,” she said.
Full article – https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2013/4/12/21090462/state-board-chews-on-grad-guidelines/
2015
April 24, 2015
Colorado considering lowering the bar for high school graduation
By Eric Gorski, Chalkbeat Colorado
Nearly two years
ago, the state Board of Education approved the first-ever common set of
expectations all Colorado students must meet to earn a high school diploma, starting
with the class of 2021.
The idea is to move
beyond the mishmash of graduation requirements at 178 school districts and
replace antiquated systems of counting credit hours with measures that matter.
The shift
envisioned for Colorado, a bastion of local control, grew out of education
reform laws that are supposed to better prepare students for college and the
workplace.
Now, state
officials are contemplating significant changes to those 2013 guidelines,
including giving more local control over ways students can prove themselves, lowering
the bar in some cases and eliminating science and social studies requirements,
leaving only English and math.
An advisory work
group, heavy
with school district representatives,
wants to stick with previously established minimum scores on ACT and SAT
college-entrance exams but reduce “cut scores” on four other measures,
according to a draft proposal obtained
by The Denver Post.
|
Eventually (see
fall 2015) the Board did approve of these changes, making it “easier” than
under the 2013 version. |
Bottom line: If
approved by the Board of Education this spring, graduating from high school in
Colorado would be easier than under the scenario approved two years ago.
What has taken Colorado so long? While other states give their legislatures or boards of
education authority to establish graduation requirements, Colorado is the only
state whose constitution puts control of curriculum entirely with local
districts, said Jennifer Zinth, director of the High School Policy Center at
the Denver-based Education Commission of the States.
To work around that, a plan for
graduation “guidelines” was incorporated into a sweeping 2008 education reform
law called the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, or CAP4K.
“Menu” of requirements
The board guidelines adopted in
May 2013 include a “menu” of options districts can give to students
to demonstrate competency in English, math, science
and social studies to
graduate.
School reform advocates worry
about backtracking, though opinions vary on the seriousness of the proposed
lower minimum scores.
“If they lower the standards, at
some point it becomes meaningless,” said Van Schoales, chief
executive officer of the reform group A+ Denver. “It becomes just another paper
chase and defeats the whole purpose of what from my perspective is the most
important policy change in Colorado in the last decade, no question.”
Lowering
requirements now, when schools have several years to prepare, is ill-conceived,
said Scott Laband, president of Colorado Succeeds, a coalition of pro-education
reform business leaders… “When you raise the bar, kids raise their game,”
Laband said. “By lowering the bar, I think we are sending the wrong signal.”
Full article - https://www.denverpost.com/2015/02/07/colorado-considering-lowering-the-bar-for-high-school-graduation/
**
May 14, 2015
Colorado Board of Education leaves graduation standards alone for now
By Eric Gorski, Chalkbeat Colorado
The state Board
of Education on Thursday rejected a revised plan spelling out what Colorado students must do to earn a
high school diploma, leaving in place a blueprint adopted two years ago while
making clear the discussion isn’t over.
In May 2013, the
state board signed off on a “menu” of tests, tasks and other options districts
can give to students to demonstrate competency in English, math, science and social studies to graduate.
State education department staffers — after consulting with district representatives and others — came back with a proposal to slash two subject areas, lower the minimum scores on certain tests and give local districts more control over how students can prove themselves. The board rejected that, not over concerns that it might lower the bar but after hearing rural districts are concerned about costs and limited options for them. The board suggested that the staff try again, but until then the 2013 guidelines remain in place.
Education reform
groups criticized the proposed changes as watering down the state’s first
common set of graduation standards, which will go into effect for the class of
2021.
The revised plan
would have removed competency in science and social studies a
requirement, to line up with college admissions requirements that include only
math and English. Minimum scores in Advanced Placement courses and
International Baccalaureate programs also would have been lowered.
The menu of
options for districts includes ACT and SAT scores, military entrance tests,
industry certificates and “capstone projects,” college thesis-like assignments
that typically involve a presentation. The revised list roughly doubled the
options, including the addition of locally developed assessments that
would first need state approval.
Under either
scenario, Colorado is positioned to make a significant change, shifting from
making high school graduation about racking up course credits to requiring
students to prove their competency.
Full article - https://www.denverpost.com/2015/05/14/colorado-board-of-education-leaves-graduation-standards-alone-for-now/
**
May 22, 2015
Don't lower the bar for graduation in Colorado
By The Denver Post Editorial Board (Opinion)
At first glance, a recent move by the Colorado Board of Education to keep in place pending guidelines for high school graduation seems a wise decision.
Unfortunately, based on comments at the meeting, the board is likely to return to the topic and water down the requirements that were passed in 2013 to ensure students are academically prepared when they leave high school.
These are requirements the board approved just two years ago after an extensive process. They should be left alone.
The requirements, which don't
even go into effect until 2021, call for raising the bar on what high school
students should be able to demonstrate they know before getting a diploma.
Earlier this year, however, board
members asked department staff to develop a plan to downgrade those
requirements — lowering the bar and eliminating science and social studies.
Students would pass with a score of 2 or higher on the ACT or AP tests. Thankfully, the board rejected that proposal, but few believe the conversation is over.
As a story by The Denver Post's Eric Gorski explained, the board rejected the proposal after hearing from rural educators concerned about costs and limited options available to smaller school districts. So the board may want to lower the bar even more than what was proposed.
The board is reacting to fear that by raising the bar, fewer students will graduate and more will drop out. But what we have now is plenty of students graduating without the skills or knowledge they need.
Roughly 40 percent of Colorado high school graduates enter college having to take remedial classes.
A high school diploma should
mean something, namely that students are ready for college or to enter the
workplace.
Otherwise, it is not worth the
paper it is printed on.
**
July 2, 2015
High school graduation rates aren’t necessarily a
reason to celebrate
By Peter Huidekoper, The Denver Post (Opinion)
In Colorado, high school graduation statistics tell us little about what that degree means in terms of a graduate’s knowledge and skills. The recently published 2014 Legislative Report on Remedial Education (available at highered.colorado.gov) again makes that clear, especially if you look at several high schools where the four-year graduation rate is impressive but the (low) ACT scores and (high) remediation rates are not.
Shouldn’t we insist on clear expectations of what it means to be a high school graduate in Colorado? Most states do a better job of this. A recent report by National Public Radio commended Colorado for moving in a positive direction, thanks to changes approved by our state board in 2013 “spelling out what Colorado students must do to earn a high school diploma.”
However, the
current majority on the state Board of Education seems skeptical of that plan. Many worry the board will renege on expectations
agreed to two years ago, leaving us in even worse shape when it comes to giving
real meaning to a high school diploma.
Full article - https://www.denverpost.com/2015/07/02/huidekoper-high-school-graduation-rates-arent-necessarily-a-reason-to-celebrate/
**
Sept. 9, 2015
Colorado changes requirements for high school graduation
By Yesenia
Robles, The Denver Post
The Colorado
State Board of Education on Wednesday approved a new menu of options for how districts can require students to earn a high
school diploma, changing requirements approved two years ago.
The options approved Wednesday eliminate
the need to prove competency in two subject areas (science and social studies),
leaving only a requirement that districts pick at least one way for students to
prove they meet competency in English and another to prove they are competent
in math.
|
The Board wondered about the impact of the new Graduation Guidelines on high school graduation rates. But concern about a drop in graduation rates in Colorado have proved unfounded. The Addendum shows rates have continued to climb since the new Guidelines were in place. |
Board chairman Steve Durham said not changing the requirements that were approved two years ago could mean “one-third fewer graduates.”
Responding to
concerns, the board’s move also noted that districts should be striving for
higher requirements than the board is standardizing. In adopting the revised
menu, the motion recognized it is “the floor, not the ceiling.”
Educators also asked the board not to delay their decision any longer so they could begin to tell students eighth-graders next year — the first class for which the requirements will apply — what it will take for them to graduate.
Full article - https://www.denverpost.com/2015/09/09/colorado-changes-requirements-for-high-school-graduation/
**
Sept. 9, 2015
State board finally
gives approval to grad guidelines
By Todd Engdahl, Colorado Chalkbeat
The State Board of Education Wednesday voted 6-1 to
approve a revised menu of choices school districts will use to set their
requirements for high school graduation.
The graduation
guidelines have a long history of stops and starts.
Because the state
constitution gives local school boards control over instruction, it’s long been
considered unconstitutional for the state to impose any uniform requirements
for high school graduation.
A 2008 education reform
law tried to work around that by directing the Department of Education and the
board to develop graduation guidelines that districts had to “meet or exceed.”
The board didn’t act on
a set of guidelines until 2013, when it approved a menu that included measures of not
only language arts and math but also science and social studies.
That list drew criticism
from many administrators and school leaders, who complained that the menu was
unfair to smaller districts that wouldn’t be able to offer as many choices to
their students as larger districts.
The department went back
to the drawing board with a large task force of educators who developed the
revised menu — dropping science and social studies — that was approved
by the board Wednesday.
Full
article -https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2015/9/9/21092684/state-board-finally-gives-approval-to-grad-guidelines/
**
Sept. 11, 2015
Graduation Guidelines Adopted by State Board of Education
By Leslie Colwell, Colorado Children’s Campaign
|
Several articles raised concerns about the “level of rigor” of the Guidelines as adopted. |
The Children’s Campaign supported the original adoption of competency-based graduation guidelines While we laud the board’s efforts to strike a balance between providing additional options for schools and districts within the menu while maintaining the appropriate level of rigor for high school graduation, we hope that the State Board will not back down on insisting that a Colorado diploma have value and indicate real readiness for college and career. Colorado kids deserve competency-based guidelines that would help ensure they leave high school ready for the challenges ahead. Today, despite having a diploma in hand that should indicate readiness for the next step, 37 percent of Colorado students who go on to post-secondary education require remediation.
Full article - https://www.coloradokids.org/graduation-guidelines-adopted-by-state-board-of-education/
2016
Feb. 15, 2016
What Does a High School Diploma Really Mean?
Colorado Succeeds
On the surface, the consistent
rise in high school graduation rates, both in Colorado and across the country,
is great news… However, there’s much more to the story, and a closer look
reveals some startling trends.
As the New York Times
Editorial Board recently argued, while high school graduation rates continue
to improve, weak graduation requirements and lackluster school curriculum
have led to a devaluation of the high school diploma. As a result, many new
graduates are ill-prepared for what lies beyond high school, whether that
is a four-year college, a career, or even the Armed Forces. According to the
Times, “less than 40 percent of 12th graders [in the U.S.] are ready for math
and reading at the college level.”
Colorado isn’t faring better.
Less than 50 percent of our high school graduates are prepared for
college-level reading, math, and science. What’s more, a full 34 percent of our
students graduate from high school in need of remediation in college. While most
would agree that a high school diploma is a minimum requirement in today’s
workforce, as many employers have experienced, it does not necessarily signal
readiness for our 21st century jobs.
Despite the evidence that we need
stronger high school graduation requirements, the Colorado State Board of
Education approved last fall a new menu of options for school districts that
essentially waters down the expectations placed on students graduating from
high school. This move revised the earlier, more rigorous graduation
guidelines adopted in 2013, which Colorado Succeeds and our members fought for.
Full article - https://coloradosucceeds.org/resource/what-does-a-high-school-diploma-really-mean/
**
April 18, 2016
Colorado’s school graduation rate stagnant for first time
in 5 years
By Yesemia Robles, The Denver Post
The state Board of Education in September changed graduation requirements, lowering the minimum requirements. The changes won’t affect any current high school students: School districts have until the class of 2021 to implement their menus of graduation requirements to meet the state’s minimum or go beyond those requirements.
Officials said as they consider how districts will change their graduation requirements, they will look closely at this latest data.
Full article - https://www.denverpost.com/2016/01/21/colorados-school-graduation-rate-stagnant-for-first-time-in-5-years/
2017
Oct. 27, 2017
Why Colorado schools
are revamping high school graduation guidelines
- [Colorado
Graduation Guidelines Summit]
By Monte Whaley, The Denver Post
Colorado school
districts are working to implement new graduation guidelines that officials say
will make high school diplomas more meaningful and marketable.
More than 300
people representing 70 school districts will compare notes Monday on how best
to put the guidelines into practice. The summit is scheduled at the Adams 12
Conference Center, 1500 E. 128th Ave. in Thornton.
“Each district is thinking about what this really means
and how best to put them to use for students,” said Robin Russel, the Colorado
Department of Education’s graduation guidelines manager.
This year’s
freshman class is the first to be impacted by the new guidelines, which were
developed by the state in 2015 to get students ready for a more complex world
of education and work.
“Things are much
different now than they were just a few years ago, and we want to prepare them
for that world,” Russel said, adding that Colorado is the last state to
develop its own graduation guidelines.
The concurrent
enrollment option allows students to take post-secondary courses and earn high
school and college credits. Another option prepares students for the ACT
college entrance exam, while another offers advanced placement classes.
There is also an
option that offers a pathway to an industry certificate. A capstone option
calls for a student to prepare a portfolio of the student’s best work — either
curriculum or research-based — that demonstrates academic and intellectual
learning, according to the CDE.
Full article - https://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/27/colorado-new-high-school-graduation-guidelines/
**
Nov. 21, 2017
District, School Leaders
Connect to Explore Student-Centered Pathways
From the Colorado
Education Initiative
“On
October 30, more than 300 district leaders from across Colorado gathered at the
Graduation Guidelines Summit at the Adams 12 Conference Center, to discuss how
to adapt Colorado’s graduation guidelines with gusto. The event focused on
strategies for engaging students at a deeper level, resulting in graduates who
are ready to successfully enter college, the workforce, and other postsecondary
endeavors.
The Graduation Guidelines Summit
was planned by the Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) and Jobs for the Future
(JFF), in partnership with the Colorado Department of Education.
Full article -https://www.coloradoedinitiative.org/district-school-leaders-connect-explore-student-centered-pathways/
2018
Jan. 18, 2018
Denver students taking longer to
graduate, even as other districts report improvements
By Yesenia Robles, Chalkbeat Colorado
Colorado’s annual release of graduation data showed some metro area school districts making gains while others, like Denver’s district, posting decreases in on-time rates.
Statewide, four-year high school graduation rates inched up again, reaching a new high with 79 percent of all students graduating on time in 2017.
Colorado ranks low compared to other states in graduation rates, but the annual improvements follow a similar national trend. In 2015, Colorado changed the minimum bar for graduation requirements, and school districts are in the process of changing their own requirements to match for the Class of 2020. School districts are free to set their own requirements for graduation, as long as they meet the state’s minimum bar.
2019
June 8, 2019
New Colorado high school
graduation requirements are coming. How many students will actually be able to
meet them is mystery.
By Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post
|
Again, talk of the possibility that fewer
students would be able to meet the new Graduation Guidelines. That graduation rates have instead been rising
is another reason we need an updated look the expectations in the new
guidelines. |
Students entering
their junior year in the fall will be the first to test out new state
graduation requirements designed to prove they know enough math and English to
get by in life, and it’s not clear how many students might not make the mark.
The class of 2021
will be the first in Colorado required to go through some sort of skills
assessment before getting a diploma. The General Assembly passed a law with
a somewhat vague call for students to prove their competency about a decade
ago, and the Colorado Department of Education has spent much of the time
since sorting out what assessments, and scores, would show students are ready
for college or a career, said Robin Russel, graduation guidelines manager at
CDE.
They settled on a
menu of 11 options and districts have to use at least one. Most of the options
are tests, such as the ACT, SAT, WorkKeys or ASVAB, taken by people wanting to
enter the armed services, though districts also could allow students to complete
a capstone project or enroll in college-level classes.
How many students
in a typical class would fail to graduate because of the new tests is unclear.
Denver high schools have been working since 2016 to raise
awareness of the new requirements, and this year schools and families will get
an online tool they can use to check whether students are on track, John
Albright, DPS’s student engagement director, said. The district is trying to
prepare as much as possible, but Albright worries that low-income kids and
students of color will be hit hardest by a new requirement, because the
district hasn’t provided all students access to the same advanced classes.
|
Once
more, the worry about lower graduation rates. |
“As you bump up the rigor for students to meet certain peaks in their career, logically you would expect a dip in graduation rates,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to stem that.”
Full article - https://www.denverpost.com/2019/06/08/colorado-graduation-requirements-change/
2020 - COVID
July 8, 2020
Colorado high schools will have flexibility from new graduation requirements amid the pandemic
By Yesenia Robles, Chalkbeat Colorado
Colorado’s high school seniors next year will have more flexibility in
meeting the state’s new graduation requirements as a result of the pandemic’s
disruptions.
The Colorado State Board
of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to allow districts to choose their own
way of determining if students are proficient in English and math, instead of
using the 11 ways the state had approved.
Colorado’s State Board
of Education years ago approved those 11 ways — including getting a passing
grade in a concurrent enrollment course, or a minimum of a 2 on an Advanced Placement course test — for high school
students to prove proficiency in English and in math in order to earn a
diploma. It was a way of setting a minimum bar of what a diploma means
in Colorado, given that local control allows school districts to set their own
guidelines for graduating.
The high school Class of 2021 was to be the first required to meet those state requirements.
|
This flexibility
was only allowed for that one year. See next article, from 2023. |
2023
Jan. 10, 2023
Colorado graduation rates went up. So did the number of
dropouts.
By Yesenia Robles, Chalkbeat
Colorado
Colorado’s new graduation requirements were pushed back a year because of the disruptions of the beginning of the pandemic including the pause in state testing. But for the state’s 2022 graduating class the new requirements went into effect, meaning students had to show competency in English and math, in addition to credits they may need to earn based on district guidelines.
2024
May
2024
“What Makes a Graduate? Unveiling
the Opportunities and Challenges of Colorado’s Unique Graduation Pathways”
(Colorado Education Initiative, 2024 Accountability EdPapers)
By Amber Elias, Vice President,
Policy Partnership
In 2007, the legislature directed
the state to develop high school graduation guidelines. The process was
delayed to accommodate the requirements of legislation incorporating new
Colorado Academic Standards and Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP)
requirements, and in 2013, the state board adopted the Colorado Graduation
Guidelines, which first fully applied to the graduating class of 2022. The
Guidelines represent a structure whereby students may demonstrate readiness for
life after high school through one or more of 11 test-based, programmatic, and
performance-based options…
Colorado’s local control context
means that between the variety of graduation options, and the 178 different
graduation policies across the state, there are many opportunities for students
to experience meaningful and individualized pathways to graduation that reflect
their interests and skills and will contribute to a thriving economy - in
theory. At the same time, understanding state-level implications of the
state Graduation Guidelines, district policies, and their implementation is
nearly impossible for a number of reasons….
First, while each school district
has a graduation policy, they may be difficult to access, are not often readily
available to or interpretable by the general public, and are not centrally
collected by CDE to store and make available publicly. The lack of
comparability and transparency in the requirements makes any conversation
largely inaccessible to the general public.
|
Raises concern specifically about the Captone as “a last resort”
option for some students. |
Second, the
implementation of Graduation Guidelines and district policies and
requirements varies widely across districts, and even inside of districts.
The menu of options may be limited at the district or school level, leaving
students with fewer options to demonstrate competency for graduation in some
cases. There is no publicly available data about the nature of these pathway
offerings in each district or school, and no shared learning about their
implementation when they do exist, resulting in widely varying student experiences.
Consider the capstone option, for example: some districts prioritize a rich
“capstone for all” strategy, and each student has the opportunity to build
toward this competency in a meaningful way over time. In other cases, the
capstone is used as a last resort option for students who have not yet
demonstrated other competencies.
Addendum
Colorado high school graduation rates keep climbing under new Graduation Guidelines
On Jan. 22, 2025, The Denver Post’s headline read:
“Colorado’s high school graduation rate continues to steadily improve”
Colorado SAT scores tell a different story (from Another View, updated with 2025 scores)
After Colorado SAT scores declined by 25 points in 2022, scores have remained well below the level seen in 2018-2021. The trend line for SAT scores, one measure of college readiness, indicates Colorado students (in the years the new Graduation Guidelines have been in place, 2022-2025) are less college-ready than they were in 2018-21.
