WESTFIELD, Ind. (NETWORK INDIANA) — More people who work within education in Indiana are continuing to say that Indiana’s proposed new diploma standards for high schoolers will fall short of what Hoosier kids need to be successful.
In a simple summation, the new GPS diploma standards are geared toward helping kids for a particular career they may be interested in and many experts say it would remove some core requirements that students need to graduate under the current standards.
Some of these requirements may include many math and science courses and even a foreign language. It would also likely do away with many Honors courses that advanced students take as they get ready for college.
Teachers in Westfield are being particularly outspoken about their opposition to these proposed changes.
“At age 15, 16, or 17, you might think you know what interests you, but how do you actually know unless you can experience different courses,” said Andrew Schaaf, a math teacher at Westfield High School on WISH-TV.
Both Indiana University and Purdue University have said that the new GPS diploma standards would likely fall short of the standards they have set for admission. Westfield teachers like Schaaf say this is further showing that the proposed standards would limit Hoosier students, not give them more options as some supporters of the changes have claimed.
“When you limit requirements and what students have access to, you also limit their perspective,” he said. “They may not recognize what’s interesting to them, and, at some level, that limits their future. As educators, the last thing we want to do is limit their future. We’re interested in promoting a future.”
Dr. Jennifer McCormick, former State Superintendent and current Democratic candidate for governor, has also been a staunch critic of the changes.
“A high school redesign should be about a rigorous look at transferrable skills to prepare kids for 4 to 5 decades,” said McCormick. “Knowing that they will have to be communicators and great problem solvers. But what I would charge is that this new high school redesign is going backwards.”
