As students select their courses for next year, rising sophomores now face complications from changing graduation requirements. While administrators present students with a variety of courses each year, the new limitations in technology credit offerings restrict what many graduating after 2011 can fit into their schedules.
Last year, the Maryland BOE changed what constitutes a technology education class, and now only two courses—Foundations of Technology and Engineering—satisfy the one-credit graduation requirement.
As many students attempt to fit health, tech and other required electives into their already hectic schedules, some come to the conclusion that they must take certain courses over the summer.
“I felt that I had to take health over the summer because it became virtually my only option if I wanted to pursue journalism, and later the newspaper,” freshman Billy Lee said.
Formerly, classes like yearbook and journalism fulfilled the requirement. Now, in order to graduate, students must take one of the two tech classes, in addition to the classes that used to satisfy the requirement.
Because of this, freshman parent Carley Lee notes that it’s harder for her son Billy to take the courses he wants.
“He hopes to take another elective next year, but with the new tech education requirement, that’s becoming harder,” Lee said.
Lee has had three sons at Whitman, and said that it was much easier for her older two boys to fulfill all of their requirements.
While taking journalism and other electives doesn’t force students to take health over the summer, the change severely limits students’ options. Principal Alan Goodwin said he finds the new requirement too stringent.
“I wish they would offer more variety for the tech credit,” Goodwin said. “There are a number of other courses where students use a lot of technology, and they should be considered for approval.”
But, Goodwin also noted that the same course at two different schools may vary greatly in the prominence of technology. Journalism, for example, might be worthy of a tech credit at Whitman, but not at other schools. This makes it difficult to declare certain classes to be deserving and others not, he said.
One concern about the new requirement is that it will cause decreases in enrollment for the Black & White and yearbook. The two classes have both seen decreases since the tech credit requirement was changed, according to journalism teacher Prudence Crewdson and yearbook advisor Beth Rockwell.
Although the requirement change is limiting, students still have many options to fulfill their graduation requirements, while still taking the courses they want.
Guidance counselor Kari Wislar notes that there is flexibility in fulfilling graduation requirements, and most students are able to find a combination of classes that work.
“Kids find a way to get it done—whether through summer school or online—and still have access to the courses they want to take.”
