High school seniors who don’t see a university in their future would have the option to start on another path sooner if a proposal for a Career and Technical Education diploma passes through the Legislature.
The House education committee voted 10-1 Tuesday in support of House Bill 1213, originally authored by Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Mount Vernon, to create a 40-credit CTE diploma. The diploma would prepare graduating seniors to fill what is commonly called the “skills gap” — businesses with job openings but few workers with the right skill set to fill them.
“Currently, core 40 provides limited options for students, lacks the necessary diversification that students can receive and doesn’t allow for the development of the skills sets necessary for industry and technical education,” McNamara said in a statement. “This bill will address these issues and give students more opportunities to be successful in a CTE field.”
HB 1213 requires the Indiana Career Council to appoint a subcommittee including members of the council, representatives from high school career and technical education programs, the Indiana Department of Education, community colleges and industry to establish criteria for the diploma. The bill does not specify what would be asked of students beyond saying the diploma should require 40 credits.
“We think it’s a great idea,” said Jeff Terp, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Ivy Tech Community College. “For a lot of students, this gives them a different career path.”
Ivy Tech offers open enrollment, meaning a student with any type of diploma or GED certificate will be accepted to the community college. The state requires students to have a core 40 or honors diploma to be admitted to a four-year, public university.
“That’s part of a community college, we have options for everybody,” Terp said, adding that many technical careers requiring an associate’s degree have higher salaries than other jobs that require a bachelor’s. “For many people, [technical work] is a great career path, and this CTE diploma would help put them on that path sooner.”
Currently, Indiana high school students can choose between a general diploma, Core 40 diploma or honors diploma, which includes the option for academic honors or technical honors.
Eastern High School guidance counselor Ron Wyatt says students should know which track they want to pursue as early as freshman year, and he helps them monitor their progress every semester. Depending on students’ GPA and ambitions, the type of diploma they are pursing can change.
“The state of Indiana says everybody has to start out at core 40. Right after their first semester [of high school] we can bump them up to honors,” Wyatt said. “There’s been times when I’ve gone to graduation rehearsal and said, ‘I’m sorry, but you went [below a B average GPA] so you’ll get a core 40.’ It works the other way too.”
Wyatt thinks a CTE diploma would open up more post-high school opportunities for students.
“It sounds like a good thing for that middle [achieving] group of students,” he said. “They’ve got to make more opportunities for kids so they at least walk out the door with a goal.”
In Howard County and across the state, the largest percentage of students earns core 40 diplomas. Almost 45 percent of local 2012 graduates received core 40 diplomas, while 34 percent earned honors diplomas and a little more than 21 percent graduated with general diplomas. Howard County’s overall graduation rate in 2012 (90.5 percent) was higher than the state average of 88.4 percent.
Data from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education shows students with a core 40 diploma are less prepared for college than those with honors diplomas, which Wyatt said confirms what he’s seen interacting with students.
“If they’ve got academic honors, they’ve already prepared themselves, so they’re used to the rigor,” he said.
Of 2011 high school graduates, those with an honors diploma went on to average a 3.1 GPA their freshman year of college, according to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Their peers with core 40 diplomas averaged a 2.3 GPA freshman year, and those with general diplomas averaged a 2.0 GPA.
The need for remedial coursework showed a similar trend. Just 7 percent of honors diploma students had to take remedial courses in college, while 41 percent of core 40 students took remedial classes and 83 percent of students with general diplomas needed remediation.
Indiana University Kokomo automatically accepts students with honors diplomas, and other factors like class rank and ACT or SAT scores are taken into account for applicants with core 40 diplomas.
For the cohort of incoming freshmen who started at IUK in 2012, the retention rate for those with honors diplomas was “significantly higher” than those with core 40 diplomas, said Todd Gambill, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at IUK.
Gambill said in general he would be in favor of adding a CTE diploma option for students.
“Anything that helps students get ready for life after high school, whether it be college or a job, is a good idea,” he said.