jlisenbe
Oct 23, 2023, 07:52 PM
Oregon has announced that their high school students will no longer be required to pass a standard skills assessment because, they say, it discriminates against minority students and students with limited skills in English.
The essential skills requirement has been on pause since the coronavirus pandemic (https://www.foxnews.com/us/oregon-governor-signs-bill-suspending-math-reading-proficiency-requirements-for-hs-graduates), and last week the Oregon State Board of Education voted unanimously to continue suspending the graduation requirement through the 2027-2028 school year.
Under the requirement, 11th graders had to demonstrate competence in essential subjects through a standardized test or work samples. Students who failed to meet expectations were required to take extra math and writing classes in their senior year — thus missing an elective class — in order to graduate.
Board members said the standards were unnecessary and harmed marginalized students since higher rates of students of color, students with disabilities and students learning English as a second language ended up having to take the extra step to prove they deserved a diploma, The Oregonian (https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2023/10/oregon-again-says-students-dont-need-to-prove-mastery-of-reading-writing-or-math-to-graduate-citing-harm-to-students-of-color.html) reported.
Now note that failing the assessment in the eleventh grade doesn't prevent a student from graduating, but it does require them to take a couple of remedial courses in the 12th grade and thus lose an elective slot. Sure sounds awfully reasonable to me. But doesn't this excuse about minority students amount to racial discrimination on the basis of low expectations? "After all, you can't expect those black kids to learn basic skills, now can you?" It is, in some ways, the worst kind of racial prejudice.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blue-state-suspends-basic-skills-graduation-requirement-again-citing-harm-students-color
The essential skills requirement has been on pause since the coronavirus pandemic (https://www.foxnews.com/us/oregon-governor-signs-bill-suspending-math-reading-proficiency-requirements-for-hs-graduates), and last week the Oregon State Board of Education voted unanimously to continue suspending the graduation requirement through the 2027-2028 school year.
Under the requirement, 11th graders had to demonstrate competence in essential subjects through a standardized test or work samples. Students who failed to meet expectations were required to take extra math and writing classes in their senior year — thus missing an elective class — in order to graduate.
Board members said the standards were unnecessary and harmed marginalized students since higher rates of students of color, students with disabilities and students learning English as a second language ended up having to take the extra step to prove they deserved a diploma, The Oregonian (https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2023/10/oregon-again-says-students-dont-need-to-prove-mastery-of-reading-writing-or-math-to-graduate-citing-harm-to-students-of-color.html) reported.
Now note that failing the assessment in the eleventh grade doesn't prevent a student from graduating, but it does require them to take a couple of remedial courses in the 12th grade and thus lose an elective slot. Sure sounds awfully reasonable to me. But doesn't this excuse about minority students amount to racial discrimination on the basis of low expectations? "After all, you can't expect those black kids to learn basic skills, now can you?" It is, in some ways, the worst kind of racial prejudice.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blue-state-suspends-basic-skills-graduation-requirement-again-citing-harm-students-color