| General Information |
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Who intiated this rule change proposal? | The Indiana Education Roundtable made the recommendation to the Indiana State Board of Education after months of discussion and considerable opportunities for public comment. Appointed and co-chaired by the Governor and Superintendent of Public Instruction, Indiana's Education Roundtable serves to improve education for all Hoosier students. The Roundtable is a committed group of diverse stakeholders including key leaders from K-12 and higher education, business, industry and labor, parents and community, and the Indiana General Assembly. The purpose is to focus collectively on critical issues in education and to set and maintain a vision for educational change and student success in Indiana. |
| 2 | What is the raionale behind the proposed changes? | The Indiana Education Roundtable provides the following rationale for the proposed changes: 1. Studies by the American Diploma Project show that academic requirements of employers, apprenticeship programs, and the military are very similar to the academic requirements for college. 2. Employment opportunities for students without a rigorous high school preparation are becoming more limited as low-skill positions move to other countries. 3. Students seeking high-skill, high-wage jobs need a rigorous high shcool education. 4. Research clearly establishes that a rigorous academic curriculum is the single-most significant factor in determining a student's success in college, and that such course-taking in high school can overcome a variety of determining factors and socio-economic circumstances, including poverty and level of parental education. 5. Postsecondary education (four-year college, two-year college, apprenticeship training, occupational skill training in the military) is beneficial for all students in terms of increasing their earning potential and job security. 6. Inadequately prepared students entering postsecondary education are often placed in noncredit or remedial courses wherein they pay college tuition to learn high school-level skills and concepts, dropout at higher rates, take longer to graduate, and leave college with higher debt loads. |
| 3 | Do these proposed rule changes require Core 40 for graduation? | No. This rule change establishes four diploma types for students and the requirements for each. The State Board of Education will act on the Indiana Education Roundtable's recommendation to require Core 40 for graduation (with an informed consent process for students who wish to graduate with less than Core 40) in the near future. |
| 4 | When will the State Board of Education vote on the proposed rule change? | A public hearing will be held on the proposed diploma requirements on Tuesday, January 25 at 10:00 A.M. at a location to be determined. The State Board of Education is expected to take action on the proposed rule change regarding diploma types and requirements at their February 3, 2005, meeting following the rule promulgation process. |
| 5 | When would the new diploma types and their requirements go into effect? | The new diploma types and their requirements would go into effect for the Class of 2009. |