More than 100 parents of Boone County students attended an informational session in mid-July about the proposed diploma requirement changes in Indiana.
Ron Sandlin, senior director of School Performance & Transformation with the Indiana Department of Education, provided parents with an overview of the plan in its draft form at the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library Whitestown branch before engaging in a question-and-answer session with those parents, most of whom expressed frustration over the proposal.
The DOE’s proposal to overhaul high school graduation requirements would begin with the class of 2029. Under the first draft, students would be afforded two diploma options — the GPS and GPS Plus — rather than the current general, Core 40, academic honors and technical honors options.
The changes would require students to focus on core classes during their first two years of high school, with a combination of coursework and experiences, such as internships and other work-based learning, in their last two years. Currently, the proposed requirements include three diploma seals to signify that a student has met the requirements for college, military service or employment in a trade.
Sandlin told those in attendance that 54 percent of Hoosier graduates earn a Core 40 diploma but added that only about half of all students move on to college. He said the changes would expand programs, versus overhaul the entire system, by building two markets — careers and college. Sandlin also said changes would create avenues for success for those students who are not on a college track.
“We have kids for whom our system is not working,” Sandlin said.
Sandlin said with the new requirements, schools can provide those students with “a new foundation” and can create opportunities for “a recipe for individual success.”
Parents questioned employer engagement with the work-based learning program, asking how the state plans to encourage or entice those employers to participate and how students in rural areas can reasonably expect to receive work-based opportunities. Sandlin said the state will create incentives for those employers to help create internships and other programs.
Another concern for those parents is that their students would pick the wrong track and end up behind should they change their minds.
Parents expressed a desire to allow individual districts to opt out of the new requirements. The requirements would apply to any accredited or nonaccredited school that issues an Indiana high school diploma.
Parents also expressed frustration with the speed of the proposal, noting that the new requirements were introduced just this past March and questioning why there hasn’t been a longer timeline proposed for further research and participation from families.
Comments on the first draft closed July 30. A second, refined draft of the diploma rule will be shared later this summer, which will begin a second round of public comment. The final draft is anticipated to be adopted in late 2024.
Learn more at in.gov/doe/diplomas.
