DPS gets tough

Proposed graduation requirements aim for more rigorous studies

Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 18, 2006 at midnight

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Proposed graduation requirements unveiled Monday for Denver Public Schools could turn Colorado's most urban school district into its most academically rigorous beginning with the Class of 2010.

Students entering high school this fall would be subject to the tougher requirements that would add two years of foreign or world language, a fourth year of math and another semester of social studies to current standards.

"These are really rigorous graduation requirements," DPS Chief Academic Officer Jaime Aquino told school board members in an informal work session, "and some people will have issues with that."

The proposed requirements in core subjects - four years each of language arts and math, three years apiece of social studies and science, two years of world language - mirror the admissions standards for Colorado's four-year colleges and universities for 2010.

"To my knowledge, DPS would be the first major school district in the state to require that level of rigor in the high school curriculum for all students, not just the college-bound students," said Matt Gianneschi, chief academic officer for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Gianneschi said some Colorado school districts are moving toward aligning their graduation requirements to the college admissions standards, which were approved by the CCHE in 2003 and are being implemented in two phases, in 2008 and in 2010.

"Others are not," he said. "There have been some where we have seen some resistance."

Locally elected school boards in Colorado set district graduation requirements, so standards vary widely among the state's 178 school districts.

In the metro area, Cherry Creek Schools last week increased graduation requirements for the Class of 2009 to more closely align with the CCHE admissions standards. But the board stopped short of meeting the standards, opting to require three years of math instead of four.

Similarly, the Douglas County and Aurora school districts currently require three years of math rather than four. Jefferson County Public Schools, the state's largest school district, requires just two years of math, as does the Boulder Valley School District.

National research by a number of education groups - including Achieve Inc., a Washington-based nonprofit, and ACT Inc., the college entrance exam company - shows students completing higher levels of math perform better in college.

Gianneschi points to such data as the reason behind the CCHE's passage of admissions standards. A growing number of states are legislating tougher graduation requirements and three - Arkansas, Kentucky and Michigan - now require all students to complete four years of math, including Algebra 2.

Aquino, who came to DPS from New York City in October, is recommending Algebra 2 be required for all Denver graduates in 2010. A committee of DPS teachers, parents and others who created the tougher graduation requirements doesn't go quite that far, urging four years of math but not naming Algebra 2.

It's one of the few differences between the recommendations from Aquino and those from the committee, both released Monday. Denver school board members are expected to vote on the new graduation requirements in June, after staging a series of public forums.

"We want students graduating who are well-prepared to succeed in college," Aquino said after Monday's meeting. "This set of expectations . . . will better prepare them for that. It also sends a message to the community - we believe our students can meet these higher expectations."

Also, he said, "It's trying to change the belief an urban district with minority students cannot aspire to a rigorous course of study."

Denver students lag their peers statewide on Colorado achievement tests and the district's graduation rate hovers at 43 percent, according to a Rocky Mountain News analysis in 2005. Aquino said DPS must work on improving instruction and intervention.

"We as a system are going to need to work with teachers on professional development and putting interventions in place so students can meet these graduation requirements," he said.

Some DPS board members fired off questions during the work session but most nodded their heads in agreement as they reviewed the proposals. They asked Aquino to present the plans at Thursday's board meeting.

"What I've heard out in the community is the community really does want a more rigorous curriculum," said School Board President Theresa Peña.

Pam Martinez, co-director of Padres Unidos or Parents United, who served on the committee, said her advocacy group and their student partner, Jovenes Unidos, have long sought tougher requirements.

She cited examples of minority and poor students performing at high levels in schools across the country.

"We need to level the playing field and make college preparation for all a reality - and then it would be up to the students as to whether they would go on to college or not," Martinez said. "Our children are smart, they're intellectually capable and they have the capacity to do high-level work. . . . We know it can be done and we're going to do it."

Raising the bar

Denver high schools could have the state's toughest core academic graduation requirements under proposals released Monday to school board members. If approved, the new standards would apply to the class of 2010:

• Four years of language arts

• Four years of math, including algebra and geometry or their equivalents plus two more years of higher math from an approved list. One recommendation calls for a year of Algebra 2.*

• Three years of social studies

• Three years of science, including earth science and biology. One recommendation calls for the third year to be chemistry or physics.*

• Two years of the same foreign or world language.**

• Two years of academic electives, including a year of music, art or drama*Recommendations From A Committee Of Teachers, Parents And Others Studying The Issue And From Dps Chief Academic Officer Jaime Aquino Differ Sligh ...

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