Noblesville Schools undertakes impressive change of course

Last year, I wrote a couple columns focused on the new Indiana High School Diploma requirements passed by the Indiana General Assembly. Noblesville Schools department chairs, student services, and other administrators have been working hard to translate the standards into a curriculum that will satisfy the new diploma requirements.

Noblesville West Middle School Principal Haughey gave a presentation on transforming math instruction. He spoke about their change in focus from memorization of math principles to conceptual understanding. The goal is to help kids have a better understanding, better retention, and real-world application. One example given is in the teaching of ratios and percentages and applying their learning to figuring sales tax, discounts, and interest rates.

Dr. Ryan Rich presented the strategic plan to achieve Academic Excellence. Several of the shifts due to the new Indiana High School Diploma requirements are:

1. Credits are no longer time-bound to a semester or year-long course, but rather, demonstrating proficiency in a course, or learning activity, or experience meeting certain requirements.
2. Change away from Spanish as a core subject in eighth grade to allow for more flexibility to allow students to take French or German, and world language placement can take place in freshman year or even hold until sophomore year.
3. Computer science course requirement is moved to middle school. Students will earn the required computer science credit by dividing up the standards between seventh and eight grades.
4. The personal financial responsibility requirement for graduation will be moved to high school.
5. Reworking the course catalog to allow students to graduate with up to 30 credit hours in AP and dual-credit courses, which will allow them to qualify for Indiana College Core.
6. The Career & Technical Education program will be expanded to include opportunities in exercise science, fashion and textiles, digital design, as well as welding and construction trades that students can apply to the work-based learning hours needed to earn the Seal Plus designation.
7. The high school team administrators have been working to identify teachers who need credentialing to teach AP courses. There are four to five additional teachers who will need to receive AP certification in the future.

The adaptations to the curricula are both impressive and significant.

• First, I believe the shift in how a “credit” is earned allows for more flexibility for students in that they are no longer constrained to a course by time but can proceed to another course or another level according to their abilities thus allowing them to earn more credit hours.
• Second, I see the move of the computer science course to middle school as the sooner the better kind of commonsense approach.
• Third, moving the personal financial responsibility course to high school is most beneficial for students as they are closer to taking on part-time jobs, using credit cards, helping to pay for vacations, car insurance, etc.

Last, according to Governor Braun’s April 2 announcement, all seven of our state’s public colleges and universities and an increasing number of private institutions are guaranteeing automatic acceptance into their school for any student who applies and has successfully earned the Enrollment Plus Seal. Reworking the course catalog is a critical step in earning the seal. For students earning the Employment Honors Plus Seal they can receive dedicated career support through the help of Ascend Indiana. This includes helping students get connected through interviews with some of our state’s top employers. Additionally, any student who completes the Enlistment and Service Honors Plus Seal will be uniquely qualified to join the Indiana National Guard and other military branches.

My only concern is as a former bilingual student, there is comfort in knowing that 2+2=4 in any language. The idea that we are now asking our multilingual students to explain their thinking could put them at a disadvantage if they do not have a level of proficiency in English. For now, I will take a trust-but-verify approach to conceptual understanding.

Melba Kiser is an outspoken advocate for financial responsibility and transparency in government at all levels. Her column appears at least once each month in The Hamilton County Reporter Newspaper.