State Plan Calls for More Classes

Mar 28, 01:13 PM

Current Headlines: By Hillary Chabot, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.

Mar. 28--BOSTON -- The state Board of Education wants high-school students to do better, and that may mean taking more classes.

Under a plan studied yesterday, the Department of Education would encourage students to take on additional courses to better prepare themselves for college or the work force.

The proposal recommends four years of English, four years of math, including algebra II, three years of science, three years of history and two years of foreign language. Board members plan to vote on the new curriculum, which could be voluntary, by June.

"One of the major factors involved in a student's successful transition to college is that they took more rigorous courses. We have too many kids currently only taking two years of math," said Education Commissioner David Driscoll.

Lowell High School Headmaster Bill Samaras said that while higher standards are always good, mandating the additional courses without more resources would be difficult. Many Lowell students who don't speak English as a first language might

be held back, he said.

"With standards like that, it might take a lot of these kids six years to graduate high school," Samaras cautioned.

Wendy Jack, Lowell High's curriculum director, said many students currently take more than the required two years of math at Lowell High. Additional foreign-language requirements might put a strain on teachers, she said.

"I support any time you can increase the rigor of curriculum, but we already have many mandates on our schools. If additional mandates are put in place, where are we going to get the teachers?" Jack said.

The state currently mandates that students pass 10th-grade English and math MCAS tests as well as physical education. Passing a science MCAS test will be required starting with the class of 2010. Local school committees set their own curriculum requirements.

Board of Education Chairman Chris Anderson, of Westford, said he doesn't understand who would be against raising standards.

"I just don't get it. I just think this is an absolute necessity," Anderson said, pointing to the critics from both colleges and the work force who say many high-school graduates aren't prepared.

But urban students do face bigger challenges with the courses, according to a survey of 79 state high schools. While 70 percent of 2006 graduates already took the curriculum outlined by the state, only 45 percent of urban high-school graduates had.

Anderson said he might even be interested in making the curriculum mandatory, but Driscoll supports adding incentives to the more rigorous curriculum instead, saying students who complete the new courses will get credit toward the state's Certificate of Mastery.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.

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