Proposals would stiffen high school standards

Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

High school juniors and seniors would face tougher academic standards under proposals before a statewide study group.

State academic standards - and tests to measure whether students are meeting those standards - extend now only through the 10th grade.

The study group, appointed by Gov. Bill Owens, is considering a recommendation to extend the standards and testing to juniors and seniors.

But several panel members were quick to point out last week that the tests probably would not be as extensive as those administered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Some teachers, parents and school board members say the CSAP tests are too long.

"I would not be a proponent of CSAPs for 11th and 12th grades," said state Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, a member of the Owens panel and the House Education Committee. "I can't even imagine junior or senior high teachers or kids would buy into that."

Owens' 15-member panel of educators and business leaders, called the Colorado Education Alignment Council, was appointed last year to recommend ways schools can better prepare students for college or the workplace. It comes after complaints from state colleges that many freshmen arrive needing remedial help.

Panel members noted earlier this year that the problem stems partly from lax academic standards during the last two years of high school - especially the last half of the senior year, when many students take few difficult academic courses.

The proposal to extend academic standards for two more years was drafted by the panel's staff. The draft also recommends statewide graduation standards.

The proposals will be the subject of discussion during the summer and a vote in the fall. Before being enacted, any recommendations would need legislative approval.

Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, a member of the panel and the Senate Education Committee, said she would consider sponsoring a bill to strengthen academics in the last years of high school.

But the test would have to be different from the CSAPs, she said.

"I think the CSAPs, as much as I absolutely support them, has been somewhat stigmatized. We'd have to look at a shorter version, an online version perhaps - one that had immediate feedback," Spence said.

Getting the public to buy into the higher standards won't be easy, given the longstanding tradition of high school seniors getting an easy ride, she said.

Todd, the House Education Committee member, said, "It's not just a matter of changing the curriculum. It's a matter of changing attitudes."