US Graduation: Are Today’s High School Students Prepared?

 

Students from across the United States are preparing to finish their high school education in the coming weeks.

Most of the students will graduate. Others will not.

Education experts say some of the graduates will be receiving a degree even though they did not complete all school requirements. Some school officials have been found to violate¹ graduation policies in an effort to increase graduation rates.

In January, an independent audit² discovered widespread graduation policy violations³ in the District of Columbia Public Schools, or DCPS. It found that about 34 percent of Washington D.C. public school students who graduated in 2017 had not met the district’s graduation requirements.

The DCPS ordered the audit after several news organizations reported on the violations.

The audit said that students were permitted to pass classes at most D.C. high schools even if they had violated⁴ attendance⁵ policies. It also reported that sometimes students received passing grades even when they had missed the majority of classwork.

The audit said DCPS teachers and school leaders felt pressure from officials to pass and graduate as many students as possible. It noted⁶ the city had created a culture of breaking the rules to help struggling students get through the system.

The culture was fueled by the D.C. government’s “aggressive graduation goals,” the audit said. The findings forced officials to admit the system had major problems.

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she believed many teachers and administrators⁷ had tried to do the right things to help students. But she added that “unfortunately, they did the wrong things.” She promised that officials had taken the audit seriously and would take steps to correct the problems identified.

The DCPS recently issued a progress report ahead of this year’s graduation ceremonies, set to take place in early June. The report estimated that just 46 percent of DCPS students were “on-track” to graduate in 2018.

The district defines⁸ on-track students as those “currently passing or having passed all courses required for graduation.”

Mark Dynarski is an education expert at the Brookings Institution’s Center on Children and Families in Washington D.C. He has studied graduation rates and requirements for years.

He says he thinks it will always be difficult to get a true picture of student progress while educators are held accountable for repeatedly reaching exact targets.

Dynarski says research has proven that people and groups can become corruptible⁹ when held accountable for reaching exact number goals. This sociological¹⁰ principle is known as Campbell’s Law.

Dynarski says he thinks this idea helped create the problems in D.C. schools.

“In this case, they had kids who were absent for 60 days. And the high school knew they were absent, actually, which is kind of distressing¹¹. But they just said, well let's just let them graduate. Let's give them high school diplomas.”

Many large U.S. school districts report high school graduation rates within the 75-80 percent range. Before the DCPS problems became public, district officials had reported a 73 percent graduation rate.

Dynarski and other experts have questioned whether any of the published graduation rates can be trusted.

“You know, how far does this go though, really? If we were to audit every single diploma awarded last year, how many of them would actually not meet the standards?”

Another problem identified in the DCPS audit was the misuse¹² of credit recovery programs at high schools across the district. These programs permit students to make up credit if they missed too many classes or failed a course. The students can make up the work during the school year. In many cases, this coursework can be completed online.

But the audit found D.C. Public Schools students violated credit recovery program requirements in several ways. Sometimes, the program was offered to students who had not failed a course and was instead used in place of usual coursework.

The audit also criticized administrators for creating their own credit recovery programs that did not meet district requirements.

Dynarski said there is growing evidence that these programs may not be the most effective method for teaching students about the subjects they are making up.

“So suppose you need a credit in science and you failed biology. So they send you off to some online service provider, and three weeks later, come back and say okay, I passed biology. Did you really learn anything in biology in three weeks?”

He says the major problem that results is some students graduate without the skills they need for college or employment.

Studies have also shown that such students have a much higher college dropout¹³ rate if they do go on to further study. This is because they have to work even harder to make up for lost time. Dynarski says graduating unprepared students just to reach a set target also harms the economy and society as a whole.

“My concern is really that the country, as a democratic society, is okay with this. That we're just okay kind of looking the other way. We recognize there might be a problem in the numbers, but we're just not going to worry about it.”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

graduate – v. earn a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university

audit – n. an independent examination of records

unfortunately – adv. when something bad or unlucky happens

on-track – adj. acting¹⁴ in a way that is likely to achieve what is required

accountable – adj. required to explain actions or decisions

distressing – adj. feeling very upset or worried

diploma – n. document showing a person has finished a course of study or has graduated from a school

society – n. large group of people who live in the same country or area and have the same laws, traditions, etc.

1 violate   

vt.违反，违背，亵渎，侵犯，妨碍

参考例句：

• Those who violate traffic regulations should be punished.那些违反交通规定的人应该受处罚。
• Can they be allowed to violate rules and regulations at will?难道能容许他们随心所欲地破坏规章制度吗？

2 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

4 violated   

亵渎( violate的过去式和过去分词 )； 违反； 侵犯； 强奸

参考例句：

• Note that thick, strong angles of tibia are not violated. 注意肥厚、结实的胫骨成角部分未受损坏。
• The soldiers violated the church by using it as a stable. 士兵们把教堂当马厩，亵渎了教堂。

5 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

8 defines   

规定( define的第三人称单数 )； 使明确； 精确地解释； 画出…的线条

参考例句：

• This name defines us all. 这个名字造就了我们。 来自演讲部分
• The range of incomes over which this happens defines the 'poverty trap'. 发生在这种情况的收入范围，称为“贫困陷阱。”

9 corruptible   

易腐败的，可以贿赂的

参考例句：

• Things there were corruptible and subject to change and decay. 那儿的东西容易腐烂、变质。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The body is corruptible but the spirit is incorruptible. 肉体会腐败，但精神不腐朽。

10 sociological   

adj.社会学的

参考例句：

• The sociological study of religion moved from the centre to the periphery of sociology.宗教的社会学研究从社会学的中心学科变成了边缘学科。
• I have in mind the existence of sociological laws or hypotheses.我想，社会科学规律或假说是存在的。

11 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

12 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

13 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。