From Devoted Reader Dave H. (his page seems to be down) comes this report of young Delawarians who are unhappy with the proposed tiered diploma system (covered before on N2P, here). If anyone can explain to me why the newspaper chose the graphic they did for this article, please let me know.
Grant Russell, a 16-year-old A.I. du Pont High School junior, is sure he will get a distinguished diploma when he graduates in the spring of 2006, if the three-tiered diploma becomes law.
That's because he aced his 10th-grade high-stakes tests.
But he's not happy about it. In fact, he and dozens of friends and classmates are so frustrated and angry that they recently sent a letter to the governor and all state legislators asking them to end the three-tiered diploma system before it begins.
"What angers me is that some of my close friends who are smart and brilliant aren't receiving a distinguished diploma because of how they did on those tests," he said.
"Those tests" are the three high-stakes tests 10th-graders must take: math, reading and writing. The rating on the diploma, descending from distinguished to standard to basic, depends on the scores in each of those subjects, weighted in a formula devised by the state Department of Education.
As I argued before, I haven't seen much validity evidence for the tests that Delaware is using for the diplomas. And it's interesting that it's the smart kids who are protesting this. This suggests that, unlike the exit exam situations in which it's the kids who are doing poorly overall who complain, we're seeing kids who are doing quite well who are unhappy with this system:
Russell and some of his friends were part of this year's Delaware Governor's School for Excellence, a one-week program that provides academically outstanding high school juniors intensive instruction. During one of the seminars, conducted by state treasurer Jack Markell, Russell asked about the economics of state testing and the diploma.
The question elicited a lot of critical discussion from fellow students...
The result was a two-page letter, signed by Russell, Dan Villarreal of Dickinson High School and Austin Zheng of the Charter School of Wilmington, urging Gov. Ruth Ann Minner "to seriously evaluate the ramifications of the DSTP [Delaware Student Testing Program] and its subsequent three-tiered diploma system upon students, teachers, parents and schools."
The letter included two more pages of the names of nearly 80 other students from high schools throughout the state. Those students, most of whom will receive the distinguished rating, at turns called the proposed diploma "absurd," "horrible," "stupid," "inaccurate," "unfair," "pugnacious" and "asinine."
"I'm the one who said it was asinine," said Villarreal, of Newark.
It's hard to find fault with kids who know their Roget's so well.
Some students said they don't mind a rated diploma if it is based on more than high-stakes tests taken so early in their high school careers.
Brian Reece, 17, a senior at Dickinson who would receive a distinguished diploma, has a problem with the criteria.
"I have a lot of friends who are straight-A students and are getting the basic diploma, and are stressing themselves out on taking the test over and over again," he said.
Alexander Platt, a senior at Middletown High School, said he liked the idea of a graded diploma. "It should be based on your grade-point average over the four-year period."
Besides, he learned a lot during his junior year, and expects to learn a lot more this year. "There's a lot of knowledge I'll have from my last two years," he said.
I can understand why students believe it should be based on GPA (although that allows for a lot more grade inflation). It sounds like there's a great deal of concern as to whether the test really matches the curriculum, and whether it's really meaningful for this purpose. Given that, it sounds like Delaware's Legislature should stick with the one-tiered (no-tiered, really) system.