Anonymous wrote:Meh. No one really cares if someone got a standard or advanced diploma. Colleges look at the actual classes a student took and the grades they earned- plus they don't even know.

+1, the travesty is that they get their news from Fox News

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like rather than ending the advanced diploma, they are ending the standard diploma. Why are they framing it this way?

Well, it would sound rather silly and be meaningless that everyone graduates with an advanced diploma.
Besides, this way suits the equity argument - giving the impression that privileges are being taken away from others so that everyone is being equitably served, even though "equally" actually would be the appropriate term.

Anonymous wrote:If you are not going into college why do you need four years of these subjects? They've already talked about how the fourth year of high school is basically a pre-vocational/college year. It makes sense to focus on a vocation that last year.

Not everyone knows their career destiny their junior year of high school. Even though a student may not be going on to a 4 year college right after high school, it doesn't mean they won't 5 or 10 years later. That high school diploma should be an indication of a standard qualification for college, and every student graduating high school should come out with the skills and abilities needed for post-secondary study whether they pursue it or not.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like rather than ending the advanced diploma, they are ending the standard diploma. Why are they framing it this way?

Exactly. It's such a weird positioning. It's about raising standards for all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are not going into college why do you need four years of these subjects? They've already talked about how the fourth year of high school is basically a pre-vocational/college year. It makes sense to focus on a vocation that last year.

To be an educated person? It's only 4 class periods, leaving 2-3 for CTE if that's the goal.

+1 It also keeps their options open. DH is from a working class family and grew up with the expectation of going into a trade and did a vocational track in HS. But, through that started working at a TV repair shop, got interested in how they worked, and was encouraged by a mentor to go to college so decided midway through senior year to apply. Ended up getting a degree in electrical engineering from the local university. If he'd been encouraged to drop academic classes it would have been even harder to meet the challenges of college.

Sounds like rather than ending the advanced diploma, they are ending the standard diploma. Why are they framing it this way?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids can barely eke out a standard diploma. Will this make it harder for them?

Yes it will. An extra year of math. If the VMPI people are to be believed, all the years of math will be more difficult as well.

And an extra year of science and social studies. Right now the standard diploma only requires 3 yrs of math, science, social studies. The only 4-years requirement is for English.

I can get behind 4 years of the core subjects for every student. We need more focus on Civics/Social Studies. There should be 4 years of English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. I understand that there are other classes that people enjoy and that they are important but we need for students to have a better understanding of the basics and we have been failing in those areas.

Completely agree. Having the option to not do this and still graduate seems like it's just letting the schools off the hook for not supporting kids towards taking real classes all four years.

I agree too.

Anonymous wrote:If you are not going into college why do you need four years of these subjects? They've already talked about how the fourth year of high school is basically a pre-vocational/college year. It makes sense to focus on a vocation that last year.

To be an educated person? It's only 4 class periods, leaving 2-3 for CTE if that's the goal.

If you are not going into college why do you need four years of these subjects? They've already talked about how the fourth year of high school is basically a pre-vocational/college year. It makes sense to focus on a vocation that last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids can barely eke out a standard diploma. Will this make it harder for them?

Yes it will. An extra year of math. If the VMPI people are to be believed, all the years of math will be more difficult as well.

And an extra year of science and social studies. Right now the standard diploma only requires 3 yrs of math, science, social studies. The only 4-years requirement is for English.

I can get behind 4 years of the core subjects for every student. We need more focus on Civics/Social Studies. There should be 4 years of English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. I understand that there are other classes that people enjoy and that they are important but we need for students to have a better understanding of the basics and we have been failing in those areas.

Completely agree. Having the option to not do this and still graduate seems like it's just letting the schools off the hook for not supporting kids towards taking real classes all four years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids can barely eke out a standard diploma. Will this make it harder for them?

Yes it will. An extra year of math. If the VMPI people are to be believed, all the years of math will be more difficult as well.

And an extra year of science and social studies. Right now the standard diploma only requires 3 yrs of math, science, social studies. The only 4-years requirement is for English.

I can get behind 4 years of the core subjects for every student. We need more focus on Civics/Social Studies. There should be 4 years of English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. I understand that there are other classes that people enjoy and that they are important but we need for students to have a better understanding of the basics and we have been failing in those areas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids can barely eke out a standard diploma. Will this make it harder for them?

Yes it will. An extra year of math. If the VMPI people are to be believed, all the years of math will be more difficult as well.

And an extra year of science and social studies. Right now the standard diploma only requires 3 yrs of math, science, social studies. The only 4-years requirement is for English.

Anonymous wrote:Some kids can barely eke out a standard diploma. Will this make it harder for them?

Yes it will. An extra year of math. If the VMPI people are to be believed, all the years of math will be more difficult as well.

Anonymous wrote:Is there a source on this that is NOT Fox News or some other right wing news outlet? I’d like a neutral fact based overview and can’t seem to find it. I did not spend too much time looking though.

VA DOE has a video about it on their youtube channel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the advanced diploma is so meaningless compared to the standard diploma, why is Virginia getting rid of it?

Why do they consider it a problem that not enough non Asian minorities are getting the advanced diploma.

The DCUM consensus is that the advanced diploma doesn’t matter.

It's a problem that so many Black and Hispanic students seem to be getting directed into a weak course selection. So now they will be required to stick with core classes for all four years. It doesn't take anything away from the kids currently pursuing the advanced diploma. This is what *actually* raising the bar looks like.

One person’s raising is another person’s lowering.

No one is being "lowered" by this, moron.