|
Rep. Sonnenberg Presses for Graduation
Readiness Assessment
In response to the alarming high rate Colorado high
school graduates are having to take remedial courses once they reach
college, State Rep. Jerry Sonneberg, R-Sterling, will be presenting
to committee a proposal that will make students pass an assessment
test in order to graduate high school.
“The significant amount of remedial classes that colleges
are having to provide to high school graduates is an indicator that
students graduating aren’t ready for the real world,” Sonnenberg
said. “We need to go back and make sure our education system is
doing an adequate job of preparing students for life beyond high
school.”
Sonnenberg’s proposal would require each student in a
Colorado
public high school to achieve a certain level on an assessment test
in order to graduate from high school.
Students can either score at a proficient level on a 10th
grade level assessment test, or a pass a postsecondary or workforce
readiness test. Children
with disabilities as well as home-schooled children would be exempt
from having to take an assessment test.
“By having these assessments, it’s making sure students
have earned a diploma and are in fact ready to move on,”
Sonnenberg said. “There has to be a minimum standard and you run
into a problem when you just start handing out diplomas to anyone
who has survived 12 years of being in the public education
system.”
Sonnenberg’s proposal is based on the recognition and
understanding that there are core competency skills and standards
that are needed to succeed in today’s world. It is the function of
public education to teach basic knowledge in the areas of math,
science, written and verbal communication and Sonneberg says we need
to ensure kids are learning enough in these essential areas.
House Bill 1254 will be heard by the Education Committee on
Thursday, February 25 at 1:30 pm in Room 0112.
Read
more news - click here
|
.jpg)
