Last night was my school’s commencement ceremony, and it was truly one of the best I’ve attended. The speakers were excellent, the exchange students honored, the 7 valedictorians presented, and the graduates excited but under control. The kids tossed beach balls around every once in a while, and they cheered for their friends and waved ...

Washington State’s mandatory test, which needs to be passed to receive a diploma, is called the WASL. Recent articles have noted the recent announcement that 91% of the students passed—if you do not count the students who dropped out. By my figuring, this means about 68% of the original class of 2008 passed the state test. [...]

We have two more weeks of school, and I only have two senior students in danger of failing one of my classes. If I can persuade this dynamic duo to attend class, I can get the work out of them, but the key is their attendance. I’m confident they’ll be here. Originally, I had 11 [...]

A while back I had a student, Davy, reach the final week of his final semester in high school, and he had a 40% in my senior Mythology course while maintaining an attendance rate of 60% (and I think a blood-alcohol level of 2.0 most of the semester). I wouldn’t budge on giving “extra credit” [...]

I read an article today about high school seniors who are trying to pass the WASL in order to graduate. While I believe a minimum standard is acceptable for students to reach, I also feel that the credits earned should be the standard. However, that is not really my comment for today. I find it odd [...]

I posted recently that I don’t have a set of class rules, and a responder wondered how I go without rules. This may sound overly simple, but I tell my (high school) students that I only create rules if we need to have them. We only have them in my classes if students can’t respect one [...]

I often wonder if a partial solution to helping colleges, trade schools, and employers determine the worthiness of students for their programs and businesses is the diploma itself. I anticipate my solution will not be popular among certain groups, but I do think it could eliminate some of debate over assessing student backgrounds and ...