Forum Gives Exit Standards Passing Grade Graduation Guidelines Meet Expectations

The state’s new exiting standards for high school graduates received high marks during a community forum in Coeur d’Alene this week.

“They thought the standards were at an appropriately high level,” said David Rawls, superintendent of the Coeur d’Alene School District.

The state’s exiting standards recently were approved by the Legislature and encompass five areas: math, science, language arts, social studies and health. Beginning in 2005, students will have to show they know what’s demanded by the standards in order to graduate from high school.

Three years ago, the district surveyed staff and residents on expectations of high school graduates. They came up with a list of abilities all students should have when they graduate. Among them are: “know U.S. and world geography,” “respect and appreciate diversity” and “think critically and creatively.” Every facet of a student’s education is addressed.

On Tuesday, district staff and residents spent three hours comparing the state’s exiting standards with the community’s expectations. They also searched the standards for gaps. They broke up into five groups, representing each of the five areas exiting standards address.

The district will use the suggestions this summer as it realigns its curriculum to be more closely matched with the new standards.

Each group reported its findings in a community forum Thursday night.

“Basically, they felt the exit standards were appropriate for graduates of our high schools to be able to meet,” said Steve Briggs, the district’s business manager, who worked with the math group.

However, Briggs said, his group did not see enough emphasis on technology in the standards. While mental computation is important, he said, technology cannot be ignored.

“Our group felt calculators and computers are new tools,” Briggs said.

The group examining the social studies standards said there should be more emphasis on world geography and history. They also said students should understand how art and humanities relate to the development of different cultures.

The health group stressed that healthy behavior should be introduced in earlier grades than it is now and that sex education, emphasizing abstinence, should be included. They also wanted to see issues regarding violence, safety and suicide prevention integrated into the curriculum.

Among the concepts the science group wanted added to the standards are: knowledge of how the human body functions, understanding of how cells make up organisms, and comprehension of the role economics plays in natural resources.

“They’re darn good standards,” said Pat Aguilar, a deputy forest supervisor for Idaho Panhandle National Forests, who worked with the science group. Aguilar also served on the committee that helped develop the state’s science standards. “We wouldn’t want someone graduating from high school without the knowledge in those standards.”

Lynne Peters, who teaches English to sixth-graders at Woodland Middle School, worked with the language arts group.

Her group said the standards should include knowledge of where the English language comes from and assurances that students will learn to speak publicly. And although the standards address grammar and sentence structure, Peters’ group wanted the district to stress those areas more, she said.

“If I were to put them on a range, I would say they were between adequate and rigorous,” Peters said of the standards.

Rawls said the Coeur d’Alene district has been working since 1997 to prepare for implementation of the standards.

“I feel like we’re leading the state in that,” he said.