Reforms aim to help students succeed after high school
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s office is ready to present to the state a new educational plan that will help students be more prepared for life after high school and on their own.
The governor’s plan, dubbed the “Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids,” focuses on improving the development of children from kindergarten through the 12th grade so as to better prepare students for life after high school.
“We don’t want students to fall behind and not be able to at least go to vocational school,” said Evan Dreyer, the Governor’s spokesman. We want to be sure that students are ready for post high school and are ready for the 21st century workforce. The work force is becoming more knowledge based and more technological. It is increasingly apparent that a high school diploma isn’t enough.”
The reform bill abandons the idea of proficiencies, and it focuses on the student being a master in a subject rather than just getting by.
“We are suggesting that we don’t hold proficiencies as a graduation requirement,” said Matt Gianneschi, education policy adviser for Gov. Ritter. “Education is a continuum. We are more concerned with students being masters in their subjects rather than just proficient.”
As for the state tests and college entrance exams, the bill addresses the actual content in the test and how it pertains to the college preparation.
“We also included the state test and college exams in the reform,” Gianneschi said. “The CSAP and ACT would be more connected with what students are learning in high school and what they would be working on college.”
For the students who are entering college the reform would cut the amount of post high school preparation for upper level courses that students are currently taking.
“Currently one-third of freshmen are taking remedial courses,” Dreyer said. “The goal is to align requirements for entrance into school and the admissions themselves so that these remedial courses aren’t needed.”
Officials from the governor’s office said they hope the reform will help sway the decision for students to stay in-state for college because of the parallel between the high school curriculum and college classes.
“We hope that students will chose to matriculate to our in-state universities,” Gianneschi said. “Admissions may become more competitive but that doesn’t mean that students won’t have their choice of where they go to school because everyone will be on the same playing field.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Philip Fisher at Philip.Fisher@colorado.edu.
