In 2010, the Florida Legislature amended state law to increase graduation requirements annually for students entering 9th grade, beginning in 2011. Every year, requirements are increasing.
For example, for students entering ninth grade in 2011-12
• You must take the Algebra I End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment and pass the assessment at Level 3 or higher to earn the course credit.
• You must earn a Geometry or an equivalent course credit as one of the four mathematics credits for high school graduation, and your performance on the Geometry End-of-Course Assessment will count as 30 percent of your final course grade. This requirement does not apply to students who completed the course before the 2011-12 school year.
• You must earn a Biology I credit or an equivalent course as one of the three science credits required for high school graduation, and your performance on the Biology I EOC Assessment will count as 30 percent of your final course grade. This requirement does not apply to students who completed the course before the 2011-12 school year.
• You must take the Grade 10 FCAT Writing.
• You must take the Grade 10 FCAT 2.0 Reading and attain a Level 3 or higher to satisfy graduation requirements.
Below are the year-by-year requirements for students entering 9th grade, beginning in with the 2011-12 school year through the 2016-17 school year.
Students Entering 9th Grade in 2011-12
Students Entering 9th Grade in 2012-13
Students Entering 9th Grade in 2013-14
Students Entering 9th Grade in 2014-15
Students Entering 9th Grade in 2015-16
Students Entering 9th Grade in 2016-17
The requirements in gallery form:
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Jim Guines says
I find this the most backward state in the uniion. It drives me nuts!! Cut the education budget and increase the standards so high that you can not even start to consider how to achieve them. The lawmakers must in someway come togather because there seems to be no leadership coming from the education section of the state to say DAMNIT JUST STOP!!
Jim N says
I for one find it refreshing……. I understand your frustration however we are missing the concept…
Here is my perspective…..As a former business owner, florida taypayer, parent of 3, and yes I was educated in Florida schools.
#`1 A high school diploma is a record of achievement. It is not a guarantee you get one if you just show up enough day’s, or go long enough. These new standards are tough and getting tougher. It is going to make the value of having that achievement worth more.
#2. FCAT was instituted primarily due to the failure of the education system to do what they were paid to do. There are many many examples of great athletes who could not even read or write, but because they were football standouts, or basketball stars, or etc. etc. they were passed on aqnd on and out the door with a diploma. FCAT was intsituted by the public to guarantee that a diploma meant something, it was a MINIMUM standard.. Education turned that around and made it a curriculm, because teacher bonus was tied to the results. They focused on teaching the test not on overall and broad education. In responce all that is left is to broaden the scope of the testing.
#3 If you want to have an education system that is stellar, It does not require that you have to just throw more money at it. Just because it is the most expensive does not guarantee that you got the “Best”. Teachers who are still there actually interfacing with children on a dialy basis are not the problem when it comes to money..It is the aqdministrative overhead in government at all levels that is the problem. They make a lot of money, way more than the average teacher, and to be honest a honest and good teacher doesn’t need or require minute to minute supervision, they need to be allowed to teach. If they do require minute to minute supervision we need to look at what we are hiring overall.
jennifer says
First of all – I graduated from an IB (international baccalaureate) school in Florida. This was an accelerated learning program with both AP tests and IB tests. I received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. I made good grades and tested very well in the majority of my subjects.
However, I did not pass Physics and I struggled tremendously in Chemistry. For my senior year we had to take a double load of either Chemistry or Biology. I chose Biology.
Now for my child to graduate with just a regular high school diploma, not an IB one, he must pass either Physics or Chemistry. These are two of the most difficult sciences for people to take. That is why they are considered “drop out” classes at a college level. This isn’t ensuring that children are prepared, this is setting up the majority of students to fail, even children who excel in their other classes. Plus, what type of tutoring is going to be available for students in these subjects? Is there going to be a tracking system to help these students understand the subject matter? Or are these students going to be left to flounder and fail?
I believe to get a diploma you must contribute, not just show up to class and meet the attendance requirements. However, this is going to the extreme without well thought out plans on how to achieve results.
Liana G says
@ Jim N
Thank you. Your post is refreshing and spot on. The blame game and self fulfilling prophecy gets tiring especially when used to justify ineptness and lack of responsibility and accountability. But they’re against school vouchers and charter schools. And they wonder why parents are fed up and disengaged.
The less parents in the world, the less children, the less schools, the less teachers, the less administrators, and the list goes on and on and on. Taxpayers will still be there but the money will be spent elsewhere on other things. We can’t have it both ways. We either want people to have kids that we can educate and thus have a job or, we can find work in a different field. And if we want those people to work and pay taxes so that we can have a job and get paid too, then we need to do what we’re being paid to do, which is to educate their children – that’s our job, that’s what we’re being paid to do.
Frank Gifford writes great commentries on college sports that gets to the heart of the sports culture in these institutions and the whole culture of cheating and grade fudging that takes place to ensure athletes stay in the game. Too much emphasis is placed on sports in high school and not on academics, so much so that many high school athletes are purposefully diagnosed ESE so that they received all the help and accommodations available to help them stay in the game. This practice is so rampant and mainstream it has become the norm and no longer raises eyebrows.
Science requires hands-on learning which is lacking in many science classrooms. Having 3 kids in the school system, I hear about the teachers who do lots of hands-on learning. What good is having some classrooms equipped with these instruments that are not being used when there are some teachers who would love to use them but they don’t have them.
Ryan M says
As Jim M said, the international standards are rising. We too must raise our standards. Jessica, I just graduated from the IB program this year and did Chemistry HL, Math HL, and Physics SL. The classes you remember from High School in these subject areas are much more difficult than ones that the state would require. For example, in Chemistry this year, we learned up to basic Organic Chemistry, along with Oxidation/Reduction and calculating Voltaic Cells. In the average Chemistry class at FPCHS, taught by Ms. Brady, the students only learn (essentially) 4 out of the 10 IB SL core chapters (which is periodicity and such).
I believe that if the teacher is expert enough in their profession, then almost any student can be taught and fully understand the material, IF the student is willing to put in the effort to EARN their high school diploma. It is difficult for me to put myself in a students shoes who is not AP, IB, or Honors, but that does not mean I am ignorant to their position as a student. I understand that some may struggle to pass some of these courses, but these students have the ability to learn it. A good teacher and good work ethic in a student are the essentials to rising our standards and to keep up with international standards. Kudos to those in charge for raising our graduation standard.
As a final point, requiring these students to take a few more rigorous classes will improve their resumes. When moving on to post-secondary education, the classes a student takes can sometimes be more important than their GPA. Most colleges would rather see a C in AB Calculus than an A as a teacher aid. This will help students easily get into a good state or community college. By raising the standard, students will most likely be more prepared to work hard in their future endeavors and leave high school feeling like they have a better understanding of how the world works (i.e. chemistry and physics). The point of school is to learn as much as you can, not to learn just enough so that everyone passes.
MH says
Harder classes and more tests don’t produce a good student, great teachers make good students. I graduated from FPC a few years ago. I did not take physics or chemistry or take any end of course assessment. I graduated with over a 4.0. Im now an honors student at a university in one of the best education programs in the country about to be a teacher myself. I haven’t accomplished this because of physics, but because of the amazing teachers in Flagler County.
“Just sayin…”
Ross says
These are fantastic requirements! I am so glad to see the Florida legislators stepping up and forcing kids, parents, and teachers to step up. Good for them.