If today’s children are going to succeed tomorrow, high expectations must be set for them.
And if our country is going to thrive in the 21st century, high school graduation rates hovering around 50 percent in some areas just won’t cut it.
That’s why we were pleased to see the Denver Public Schools board recently raise expectations for its students — even if the goals seem optimistically out of reach.
DPS wants to increase its graduation rate by 5 percent each year, reaching 82 percent by 2012.
The idea is to push more high school students to take and pass advanced placement tests and college-level courses, while implementing stricter graduation requirements.
Unfortunately, DPS already is in the hole as it strives to meet the 82 percent goal.
Last year, Denver’s graduation rate was 49.5 percent, a drop from 52 percent in the 2006-07 school year. The new goal uses the 52 percent rate from 2006 as its base, not last year’s lower rate.
DPS’s goal reminds us of the unrealistic expectations set in No Child Left Behind, the federal law that says 100 percent of all students must be proficient in certain subjects by 2014. It’s not just wildly optimistic; it’s impossible.
However, what would have been an acceptable rate? 80 percent? 90 percent? And then what about the other kids who, presumably, would be left behind?
We must set high expectations for all children, and tell them early in their school careers what is expected of them.
By the time they get to high school, it’s sometimes too late to start talking about diplomas and college. Those expectations must be set early on, by middle school at the latest, in order for those students to build a foundation for higher education.
DPS officials have suggested certain measures to help reach the goal, including attendance-initiative workshops and after-school and summer tutoring programs.
The ambitious expansion of all-day kindergarten slots in Colorado, and Denver’s new pre-school program, should eventually help the district. Those programs require more money, but they’re the types of reforms that can eventually boost student achievement and cut the state’s worrisome dropout problem, especially among minority students.
The seeds of academic failure are all too often planted as early as ages 3 or 4. That’s why preschool and all-day kindergarten programs have such big long-term payoffs for society.
DPS, of course, needs to guard against lowering its standards in order to meet its goals. That serves no one but the bureaucrats.
