[SE-Dir] OSL&P: Oregonian Article

ALLRAN Laura Laura.Allran at ode.state.or.us
Fri May 15 14:55:21 PDT 2009


TO:       All District and ESD Special Education Directors

The message below is being sent to you on behalf of:


Nancy Latini, PhD
Assistant Superintendent
Student Learning & Partnerships
______________________________________________
May 15, 2009

RE:      Oregonian Article

The issue of the modified diploma has caused some concern after the article was published in the Oregonian last week.  The letter below is being sent to the Oregonian to clarify the issue. It was written by Peter FitzGerald who served on the Modified Diploma Task Force and currently works for the University of Oregon as a Technical Assistance Specialist with the Youth Transition Program. I thought you would appreciate his comments.  Thanks for all of the good work you are doing and have a great weekend.  Nancy Latini

To the editor:

Betsy Hammond's May 10, 2009 article: "Schools Inflate Graduation Rates" did very little to paint a clear picture of a very complex issue largely due to the many inaccuracies in the article.

Her first mistake was to write that "Modified Diplomas are intended for students with severe disabilities..." which could not be farther from the truth. Although it may be true that students with disabilities earn a Modified Diploma because they are unable to meet the academic and performance standards of the "Oregon Diploma" (aka the "regular diploma" or "standard diploma"), to target one group of students for the Modified Diploma would be discriminatory.

The truth is that the Modified Diploma was intended for any and ALL students who, because of circumstances, could not meet the standards set by the State Board of Education for the Oregon Diploma. This could, and probably will, include any number of students. In fact, if the Modified Diploma was solely intended for disabled students and when awarded the Modified Diploma the result was the identification of that student as disabled or a special education student, the district awarding the diploma would be violating the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which protects the confidentiality rights of that student.

Ms. Hammond's next misdirection came when she states that students who earn Modified Diplomas take mainly non-academic classes, aren't eligible for Federal Financial Aid in College and are accepted into the Military. First, the Air Force is the only military institution that requires a standard high school diploma for acceptance into that branch of service. All other branches rely on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) to determine entry. Similarly, Federal Financial Aid applications simply ask if a student has a high school diploma. The Modified Diploma IS a diploma and Financial Aid awards are determined by the "ability to benefit" test usually determined by testing scores in the Scholastic Aptitude Testing process (SAT) or by Placement Testing at Community Colleges (e.g. the COMPASS or ASSET testing process). While it is true that classes that are in the Adult Basic Education or "Remedial" level are not eligible for Financial Aid, the determining factor is not whether or not the student received a Modified Diploma. The determining factor is whether or not the student can do entry level college coursework. In addition, there is nothing "non-academic" in the 24 credit expectation set forth by the Modified Diploma law.

Only in the last couple of paragraphs (unfortunately, the "die of misdirection had already been cast") does Ms. Hammond more accurately describe who does and who does not get a Modified Diploma, as the law intended. The fact is that because there is now ONE Modified Diploma, a level of best practice expectation (i.e. high quality remediation, appropriately targeted supports, etc.) could be the result for the kind of instruction students who aren't meeting the standards might receive. The new Modified Diploma serves students all over the State of Oregon well and moves away from the past "gimmee diploma" handed out to students who received little remediation and simply occupied a high school seat until their "time was up" or they had exhausted all the P.E. classes the High School had to offer and had dropped out in frustration.

No doubt school districts have a lot of work ahead to review and align instructional practices so that every opportunity is afforded ALL students to earn an Oregon Diploma. Once it is determined that this is not possible or appropriate though, high quality education should still be the goal, and as the student earns their 24 credits for their Modified Diploma, appropriate planning efforts made to match that preparation with the student's next environment of work, education/training, and independent living.
Peter FitzGerald

If you have any difficulty viewing this document, please contact Laura Allran at laura.allran at state.or.us<mailto:laura.allran at state.or.us> or (503)947-5674.

Messages to and from this e-mail address may be made available to the public under Oregon law.
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