By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Michigan's push for rigor and relevance means more strenuous high school graduation requirements.
Students face global competition.
Research shows many students are unprepared to succeed in college let alone the workplace.
Courses such as algebra II are seen as a gateway to better-paying jobs.
The state's economic survival is lashed to a well-educated workforce, with employers demanding strong math and science backgrounds, creative problem solvers, effective communicators, leadership qualities, flexibility to adapt to constant change and at least 14 years of education.
August's Michigan Merit Curriculum mandates four English language arts credits, four math credits (including algebra I, geometry and algebra II and one senior year), three science credits, three social studies credits, one health and physical education credit, one visual, performing and applied arts credit and two world languages credits, plus online learning experience.
The Michigan Merit Curriculum would be effective with the Class of 2011 – today's eighth graders.
"Content standards are more rigorous than in the past," Assistant Superintendent Dawn Conner told the Dowagiac Board of Education Feb. 5 at Pathfinders alternative education building.
"There are a lot more questions than answers" at this point. "It's very likely that some of these things will change," such as the foreign language component being backed up until third graders graduating in 2016.
"All freshman English students in the state of Michigan have to do the same thing and meet the same standards, and there's a lot more continuity in how they're met," Conner said. "Each student will take an end-of-unit exam covering course content."
English language arts emphasizes reading, writing and informational text.
Mathematics credit content is developed for algebra I, geometry, algebra II, pre-calculus, statistics and integrated mathematics.
Algebra I, geometry and algebra II are required, as is math senior year, to be selected from district or online options and/or dual enrollment. The sequence is not mandated.
Science content standards include earth science, biology, chemistry and physics. Biology is required for everyone, with physics or chemistry as a choice.
"Science and social studies are less affected by this" than English language arts and mathematics, said Union High School Principal Paul Hartsig, a former science teacher.
"We're also looking at the order in which we teach things" in light of algebra and physical science being the most frequently failed freshman courses. Math skills figure significantly in both.
"We have to find a vehicle to make all these high school reforms work," Hartsig said.
That's when the district began evaluating scheduling with an eye to switching from two semesters and 10-year-old eight block with seminar to three 12-week trimesters.
"The idea behind this whole thing with (Gov. Jennifer) Granholm is that every student is college-bound, so everyone has to meet these rigorous demands," Conner explained to the school board.
Superintendent Peg Stowers said, "This year, our juniors will start taking the ACT as a mandatory test instead of MEAP. A good share of the ACT is built around algebra II, so if kids have never had algebra II by their junior year, it stands to reason they can't do very well on their ACT, thus the need for all kids to take algebra II. That's a huge change for us."