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 [...]

Why do so many states create their own state test? I’d love to see every state use the ACT and SAT with every high school student. Maybe each state could divert the funds currently used for their own state tests to pay for all students to take one or both of these national exams. Results could [...]

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 ...