More attention was paid to making sure that instruction was spiraled,
ensuring continuous review of material taught in previous semesters and
allowing students to move on to the next course in the subject sequence
even if they failed the previous course (a student failing Global 1 moved
on to Global 2). Students were programmed to summer school for courses
failed because they needed to earn the credit required for graduation. Not
all students chose to attend summer school.
This led to a dilemma. What do you do with an upperclassman who
passed the required examination but failed one or more courses leading up
to it? These students met the state testing requirement but still needed to
earn credit for one or more courses. It did not make sense for students, now
in their eleventh or twelfth year, to sit with ninth-year students to retake
Global 1 or Global 2 either during the regular school year or in summer
school. This is not just a New York State or high school problem. With
high-stakes testing extending throughout K–12 in multiple subject areas, it
is a national issue. Principal Rivera’s experiences trying to create a school
policy might help other school leaders facing this same problem.
Ms. Rivera prepared the draft of a proposal covering all academic
areas to address this issue. Because this would be a difficult proposal to
convince the Academic Affairs Committee members to accept, she was
very careful with the wording of the draft. She spent considerable time
getting her ducks in a row, speaking with individual committee members
in advance to get their input and points of view. As much as possible,
their ideas and actual words were used in the draft proposal, designed to
address four main concerns.
- First, one of a school’s main responsibilities is to graduate students on
time. - Second, it did not make sense for upperclassman to retake classes with
underclassman if they had passed the required state examination. - Third, by passing this exam, the students had demonstrated competency
in the subject area, regardless of past performance in class. - Fourth (and this will seem contradictory), students learn much more in
the classroom than the knowledge they need to pass exams—they learn
responsibility, team work, presentation skills, discussion skills, research
skills, and so on. So, even if the student passes an exam, this does not
mean that he has learned all that he needs for future success in college
110 Chapter 8