Summary
In 2006 the legislators of one mid-western state passed into law a “Merit Curriculum” that requires a common set of sixteen credits for high school graduation. The policy represents a sharp break from the past, where only one credit (in Civics) was required for graduation, and where the traditional organization of the curriculum (college preparatory, vocational, and general studies) limited access for many students to the courses now required for graduation. The greatest challenge to school leaders, in terms of compliance, posed by the new credit requirements has been in mathematics; all students must now complete four credits in mathematics, rather than the two or three credits most high schools previously required, and those credits must include Algebra I and Geometry. ACCESS FULL MANUSCRIPT AT: http://cnx.org/content/m41196/latest/