The advanced diploma is literally meaningless outside of Virginia. It's not like a HS degree is fundamentally changing as a result.

The outrage is born of both ignorance and a persecution complex.

I ask you, when was the last time someone inquired about your HS diploma?

A discussion of the proposal vs. the current standard/advanced diplomas is in this video, starting at about 1:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVpvdfY9L9w&t=3034s

Looks like they are also considering dropping the Econ/Personal Finance class? It isn't discussed at all but is not listed on the "consolidated diploma". I think the EPF is a good requirement.

Anonymous wrote:Remember that a lot of students use the AP classes to defray the cost of college. You limit the number of APs and you can be adding thousands of dollars of costs to college.

This has nothing to do with limiting the # of APs students can take. The change is to make students who aren't taking core classes all 4 years at least meet that standard.

Remember that a lot of students use the AP classes to defray the cost of college. You limit the number of APs and you can be adding thousands of dollars of costs to college.

This is a good example/reminder of the need to do a little bit more legwork before jumping on the outrage machine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The state is becoming really strange.

It's being really blue.

THANK GOD. Imagine what the anti-education people would do. Vouchers, abstinence education, etc. SCARY!

Yeah, right. Like Virginia schools were this f'd up when we were a red state.

Leftists communists Marxist democrats. Dont matter. They’re always the moral highness. The code of ethics that is better and the best.

Doesn’t matter that their gangrenous ideologies are a cancer to humans.

We don't care what traitorous trash like you think.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The state is becoming really strange.

It's being really blue.

THANK GOD. Imagine what the anti-education people would do. Vouchers, abstinence education, etc. SCARY!

Yeah, right. Like Virginia schools were this f'd up when we were a red state.

Leftists communists Marxist democrats. Dont matter. They’re always the moral highness. The code of ethics that is better and the best.

Doesn’t matter that their gangrenous ideologies are a cancer to humans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The state is becoming really strange.

It's being really blue.

THANK GOD. Imagine what the anti-education people would do. Vouchers, abstinence education, etc. SCARY!

Yeah, right. Like Virginia schools were this f'd up when we were a red state.

My kid’s counselor explained the AD path as a blueprint to make sure that students are taking the right classes to be competitive in college admissions. A standard diploma with good grades plus wisely chosen electives that don’t exactly fit that blueprint can achieve the same thing, but many families aren’t going to have the wherewithal to research how to best make elective choices that position their kids well to achieve their college goals.

It’s going to suck when some kids get to senior year and realize that they aren’t competitive at their college of choice because they just signed up for whatever electives appealed to them the past four years. I can already hear the outrage over not receiving better guidance.

I guess it’s up to the guidance counselors now to double and triple their workload in course selection season to make sure kids understand the ramifications of their choices.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The state is becoming really strange.

It's being really blue.

THANK GOD. Imagine what the anti-education people would do. Vouchers, abstinence education, etc. SCARY!

Anonymous wrote:The state is becoming really strange.

It's being really blue.

So what is the advanced diploma?

Anonymous wrote:While I completely disagree with much that the VDOE has been doing, this I am not opposed to.

There should absolutely be more flexibility with the advanced diploma. My kid is 2E, brilliant kid but has dyslexia. He tried really hard with foreign language but the way his brain is wired he could not pass. Meanwhile, he was in AP classes and and loved academic challenges in any other way.

Ultimately though, even with multiple AP and honors classes, he still graduated with a standard diploma. That’s all well and good but is kind of a slap in the face to a kid that really meets the point of the diploma.

I have a science doctorate and Spanish is what almost kept me from completing college. No dyslexia, not gifted. Just pretty smart. But languages are beyond me.

Anonymous wrote:While I completely disagree with much that the VDOE has been doing, this I am not opposed to.

There should absolutely be more flexibility with the advanced diploma. My kid is 2E, brilliant kid but has dyslexia. He tried really hard with foreign language but the way his brain is wired he could not pass. Meanwhile, he was in AP classes and and loved academic challenges in any other way.

Ultimately though, even with multiple AP and honors classes, he still graduated with a standard diploma. That’s all well and good but is kind of a slap in the face to a kid that really meets the point of the diploma.

+1000

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the actual change being proposed, it's about getting rid of the weak "standard" requirements and making kids take the core subjects all four years of HS (as in the current advanced diploma) but with flexibility to do CTE instead of the full 3 years of world language required for the advanced diploma.

The two diploma set up always seemed strange to me and in the presentation about this they noted that most states only have one diploma. They might offer added endorsements or other recognition for those families who feel slighted to lose the "advanced" label.

I think VA DOEs math plan is pretty terrible but this change actually is about raising the bar for those kids who otherwise get through HS with just the weak standard diploma requirements.

My high school had one diploma. National Honor Society students got a NHS sticker on it. If parents need a distinction for their high-achieving kids, that's one way to do it. GPA should be given more kudos than completing a certain number of various classes regardless of the student's grades in them. For example, shouldn't a high GPA-achieving student who only completed two years of German get acknowledgement over a lower-GPA achieving student who barely passed three years of German?