Louisiana Weighs Changing Graduation Standards After Students Fail State Tests

Opposition is mounting as Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education prepares for a final vote next week on a proposal to allow students who failed state tests to graduate by other means.
The proposal published in the Louisiana Register aims to allow students not meeting the current graduation standard to complete a project or portfolio that their teacher would grade. With a passing grade, students would receive a diploma that would count toward their school’s accountability rating score.
Cade Brumley, the state superintendent, has also joined the chorus with a letter to the board describing the proposal as “bad public policy,” urging members to “abandon the rulemaking process.”