Speaking to the Michigan Board of Education, state
Superintendent Mike Flanagan declared Nov. 15, 2005, "an historic day." Gilding
his announcement with Crosby, Stills and Nash’s "Teach Your Children Well,"
Flanagan announced that new-and-improved graduation requirements would "change
the face of public education."
Michigan currently requires one civics class for high school graduation. Above is a summary of results on the social studies MEAP test, which includes an assessment of civics knowledge. An average of about 28 percent of test takers “met” or “exceeded” state standards in the classes of 2000-2005.
With the aim of creating a more skilled workforce, the
superintendent unveiled a proposal that would require Michigan students to take
a total of 16 credits, distributed over various subjects, before they can
receive a high school diploma. The State Board of Education approved that plan
with minor modifications and added two credits of foreign languages, for a total
of 18 required credits.
In addition to the one civics course currently required by
state law, Michigan high school students would have to take 17.5 additional
credits, including 4 credits of English, 4 credits of mathematics, 3 science
credits, 2.5 social science credits in addition to civics, 1 credit of physical
education, a fine arts or music credit and 2 credits in foreign languages.
Raising state graduation standards may seem to be an
intuitive solution for improving public education in Michigan. However, based on
Michigan public high school students’ achievement in the area of the state’s
single current graduation requirement, Michiganians should not place their hope
for a better public school system or economy in higher state graduation
standards.
One of the current problems these requirements are intended
to fix is the high need for remedial education. In fact, a study released by the
Mackinac Center for Public Policy in 2000 estimated that the cost to Michigan
businesses and post-secondary institutions of re-educating high school graduates
with basic skills is more than $600 million every year. To test whether higher
state graduation requirements would solve this problem, we can analyze the
effectiveness of the current standard. If we accept the logic employed by
proponents of more graduation requirements, the current state requirement should
be producing students who demonstrate exceptional competency in civics.
Social studies comprises a significant part of the Michigan
Educational Assessment Program test taken by Michigan 11th graders. From 2000 to
2005, an average of only about 28 percent of test-takers met or exceeded state
standards in social studies. This means that, on average, nearly three-quarters
of students who graduated from Michigan public high schools in the past six
years did not meet the state’s standard for knowledge of basic economics, world
geography, and the history and institutions of the United States and Michigan.
Admittedly, not each of these areas is required by the state for graduation,
though they may be by local districts.
Civics knowledge comprises one "strand" of the social studies
assessment, although several other questions relate to civics generally. For two
of the last six years (the tests administered in 2001 and 2002), the Michigan
Department of Education provides data for each area assessed on the social
studies test, including civics. In 2001, an average of 62 percent of responses
to multiple choice questions in civics were correct. In 2002, the average
percentage of correct multiple choice answers to civics questions dropped to 46
percent. These percentages are not the best indication of student performance in
civics because there were only five questions on each of these two tests that
were specifically civics-related. However, each question required only the most
basic knowledge of American government.
These basic data call into question whether Michigan’s single
graduation requirement has increased competency in a way that advocates of the
new proposal posit their standards will do. This simple analysis tracks with
more general research. Data on teachers and student performance from the U.S.
Department of Education indicate that over the past 30 years, increasing the
time spent by secondary school students in core subjects has not yielded higher
student achievement in those areas.
The debate over graduation requirements is significant — high
standards are an important part of excellent education. But given state
bureaucrats’ lack of success implementing the law’s one existing requirement, we
should not place much hope in an additional mandate to fix public education or
improve the economy. Legislators must keep this in mind when they consider
whether to impose the state board’s policy on Michigan students, who would
benefit far more if their parents were able to choose the courses and schools
that best suit their needs.
Ryan S. Olson is director of education policy for the Mackinac
Center for Public Policy.