2 different diplomas for graduates possible

A competent student under the proposed Performance Plus education reform plan is not necessarily one who is ready for college.

That's why the Utah System of Higher Education and the Utah State Office of Education are looking into creating a special type of diploma for graduating high school students to differentiate between "competent" and college-prepared.

The diploma is just one idea among many that has emerged from talks between public education leaders and chief academic officers at Utah's nine public colleges and universities.

"We're trying to define the missions of the different universities," said Utah State University assistant provost Sydney Peterson. "While you may graduate from high school with competencies to enter a two-year junior college, you may not be competent to enter a four-year research institution."

From those talks, the USHE has created a document it calls "A Working Paper on the Competent Learner: Transitioning from High School to College," which the Utah Board of Regents will discuss on Friday.

The paper gives higher education officials some guidance on how their schools might impact a competency-based education. One way is to refine how future educators are taught in college.

"Teachers have to come out prepared differently," said Dianna Winn, associate commissioner of higher education.

That means public education coordinating with deans of colleges of education to make sure students who want to become teachers are learning about diagnosis, remediation and assessment of student learning. The working paper also commits higher education to working with practicing teachers to improve their skills for "fostering the competent learner."

A hope is that with better-prepared students coming out of high school, there will be less need for playing catch-up once they're in college.

"In order for students to be well prepared for higher education," the paper states, "it is critical to strengthen the curriculum in the high school junior and senior year."

Public and higher education faculty committees have already identified high school exit competencies in writing and math with the goal of aiming students toward a more successful first year in college.

"We need to make sure they have the math or writing skills that are requisite" for disciplines like engineering and business, said John Francis, associate vice president for academic affairs at the U.

The USHE points out that high school counselors will also need the right training to ensure they know how to guide students into appropriate curricula, which means knowing about all the different acceptance standards of different colleges.

"I think that's absolutely critical," said Francis. That advisement, he said, should come earlier in a student's high school career.

As for implementing a competency-based education, Francis added, it needs to start at the elementary school level. That could mean less need for remediation during high school when students should be focusing on preparing for college.

---

E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com