Changes Being Made Towards High School Graduation Requirements In The Magnolia State

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- College or career? The Mississippi Board of Education is making sure high school students will be ready for both.

The state is beefing up graduation requirements and introducing multiple diploma endorsement options for students beginning this upcoming school year.

The changes will start with the incoming freshman.

“The diploma endorsement options are just really giving the students a way to track where they want to go as they progress through high school,” said Dr. Robin Ballard, Deputy Superintendent with the Lowndes County School District.

When the bells ring to begin the 2018-2019 school year, the hallways at high schools all across the state will be filled with new incoming freshman.

However, those freshman will now have new requirements they must complete before they can graduate.

Under these new guidelines, all students must have at least of 24 credit hours before graduating high school.

“The basic is the traditional and that is 24 credits,” said Ballard. “Right now we currently require 26 credits, so the 24 is a bit of a drop there for all of our students, but then they can pick the three endorsements, the career and technical endorsement, the academic endorsement, and the distinguished academic endorsement.”

Students will be required to take four credit hours of math and English, three and half credit hours of social studies, and a year of computer science or technology.

Also under the new guidelines, students are required to take a year long college and readiness course.

Dr. Ballard said the incoming freshmen will also have diploma endorsement options to chose from including a career and technical endorsement.

“That’s 26 credits and they have to have a 19 in math and a 17 in English on the ACT, and they have to score a silver on the WorkKeys test,” the deputy superintendent said.

An academic endorsement.

“The state department requires 26 credits for that, our counselors and administrators chose to go with 27 credits,” Ballard explained. “It also has a 2.5 GPA, and the same ACT requirements, and they have to have a C in a dual enrollment class.”

And a distinguished academic endorsement.

“That’s the high one, that’s 28 credits, Ballard described. “They have to have a 3.0 GPA, an 18 in English, and a 22 in math on the ACT, and they have to have a B in a dual enrollment class or a B on an AP test with taking the exam.”

Ballard said if a student starts out enrolled in one endorsement option, but then wants to switch to another one, they can do so but only with their parents permission.

Also under these new guidelines, students with significant cognitive disabilities will be eligible for an alternate diploma.

For more information on these new changes, just visit http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/communications/2017/07/13/mississippi-state-board-of-education-proposes-new-diploma-options-to-expand-college-and-career-opportunities-for-all-students for more information.