Research Paper
Schools do not require students to learn basic everyday skills but require students to learn trig functions. In an ever-changing world, students need to have the ability to keep up with the change, however, this is not the case because schools do not require students to take classes to learn everyday skills such as taxes, budgeting, and nutrition. Unless students choose to take these classes, which is unlikely considering the pressure they are under to take more advanced classes so that they can get into good colleges, students will not have any idea of how to function after graduation, because schools do not require simple skills, and the skills they do offer will not help in most career paths.
Many learners presently do not have the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills required for STEM careers. In the International Student Assessment Program, a global evaluation of 15-year-olds, the United States scores below the global average in mathematics and near the average in science. Similarly, as regards the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), only 35% of eighth graders are skilled or advanced in mathematics in 2013 and only 32% demonstrated scientific skills in 2011. Many states have improved mandated minimum standards in math and science to better prepare learners for these STEM professions. These strategies are aimed at exposing more learners to advanced ideas of math and science, and the additional rigor is designed to enhance college or workforce student results. Twenty-seven states require at least one more year of mathematical instruction for the 2013 high school graduation class than for the 2006 class. Similarly, 19 states required a further year of science for 2013 high school graduates compared to 2006. In 2013, 42 states needed learners to take at least three years of mathematics, and 37 states needed three years of science. While more stringent graduation requirements have become prevalent legislative instruments, the efficacy of these demands on student results has been little study-proof. Most studies have used information from the 1980s and 1990s that may not be helpful to understand the latest changes in demands for high school graduation. Moreover, most studies examined snapshot comparisons of how variations in state-by-state demands are associated with student results. This research can be distorted by variations in curriculum between states, financing mechanisms, and other factors that may be confused with statewide requirements for graduation.
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This project provides a more recent review of the relationship between requirements for high school graduation and student outcomes by using student-level data for nine graduation classes in high school to assess how changes in Illinois math and science requirements affect student outcomes. Illinois enacted Public Law 94-0676 in August 2005, which aimed to increase the rigor of high school by requiring more stringent requirements for high school graduation. Most districts permitted high school students to graduate with only two years of math and one year of science before the reform. The law set a minimum requirement for state graduation of three years of mathematics and two years of science. The law specified that the requirement for mathematics must include the content of Algebra I and geometry. The law has been phased out over a period of four years. Each year from 2005 to 2008, newcomers were responsible for completing more coursework, with the full reform package applicable to the 2013 graduation class. The mandatory state math requirement has increased from two years for graduate classes in 2008 to three years for the graduation class in 2009. The state required two years of science for the 2011 graduation class compared to the one-year requirement for the previous classes.
After the publishing of A Nation at Risk, 42 countries improved their graduation criteria, but few embraced the suggested number of classes. By 1990, only three countries had accepted the A Nation at Risk advice for three years of both math and physics. Furthermore, in theory, the demands only influenced the course-taking of a minority of learners. Research using the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the 1990 High School Transcript Study looked at the impact of school graduation criteria on student learning and accomplishment.
Ultimately, there have been laws and regulations that have helped school systems come a long way, however, most of these laws have made it harder for students to graduate and added classes that, not only do not help students post-graduation, but most students take anyways. Schools do not provide students with sufficient STEM classes for an ever-evolving ‘STEM world’ and many laws have been passed attempting to help students, but none of these laws have fixed the number of required classes. More basic needs classes must be required and fewer math and core classes should be required for students to graduate.
Works Cited
- Parks, Casey, et al. “How Much Math Do You Need?” The Hechinger Report, 20 Dec. 2018, hechingerreport.org/how-much-math-do-you-need/.
- Macdonald, Heidi. “Resource Title:50-State Comparison: High School Graduation Requirements.” Education Commission of the States, www.ecs.org/high-school-graduation-requirements/.
- Alabama Graduation Requirements. www.alsde.edu/sec/sct/Graduation%20Information/AHSG%20Requirements%20May%202018.pdf.
- Best_Schools. “15 Subjects That Should Be Mandatory (But Aren't).” TheBestSchools.org, Thebestschools.org, 26 Aug. 2018, thebestschools.org/magazine/15-subjects-mandatory-arent/.
- STEM Programs. www.amaisd.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_18929979/File/Fine%20Arts/endorsement%20plans/STEM%20Pre-Engineering%20ADP%20with%20FA%20Pathway.pdf.
- “Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.” Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math | U.S. Department of Education, 2019, www.ed.gov/stem.
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