Community College Granting of High School Diplomas

Fall
2006
Resolution Number
09.06
 
Contact
Assigned to
President
Category
Curriculum
Status
Ongoing
Summary
Affirm that the choice of community college noncredit high school diploma program assessment tools is a curricular matter and the purview of the faculty; affirm the autonomy of the local governing boards, in consultation with the faculty, to offer noncredit basic skills courses that lead to the completion of a high school diploma, and to select appropriate assessment tools used to determine that completion; and communicate its position on community college high school diploma program graduation requirements to appropriate bodies and organizations (such as the System Office, the Board of Governors, the Consultation Council, etc.).
Status Report

This continues to be a topic in non-credit budget discussions at Consultation and Board of Governors, and in discussions of Title 5 curriculum regulation changes in the System Advisory Committee on Curriculum.

Whereas, There is an increasing need to educate high school drop-outs and under-prepared adults who do not have a high school diploma, to provide opportunities to gain a high school diploma or equivalent and current discussion about changes in Title 5 language suggests that the community college noncredit high school diploma programs be mandated to give the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) as a requirement for a diploma;

Whereas, Education Code 78401 delineates that, (e) "The governing board of any community college district maintaining an adult school shall prescribe the requirements for the granting of diplomas", and the California Community College Strategic Plan states in Goal B2 under Appropriate Testing for Adult Learners that adult school students ."may have unique needs that are not addressed by the usual approaches to assessment.";

Whereas, A February 2003 legal opinion from the System Office, in response to the question of whether community college high school diploma programs must administer the CAHSEE says that there is no basis for concluding that the CAHSEE requirements are applicable to the programs offered by community college districts; and

Whereas, Community college noncredit high school diploma programs provide a viable alternative for earning a high school diploma through a relevant curriculum, using multiple measures of assessment and testing appropriate to adult learners, that reflects the needs of re-entry adults, and the CAHSEE is but one measure of specific competencies gained in a noncredit high school diploma program;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges affirm that the choice of community college noncredit high school diploma program assessment tools is a curricular matter and the purview of the faculty;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges affirm the autonomy of the local governing boards, in consultation with the faculty, to offer noncredit basic skills courses that lead to the completion of a high school diploma, and to select appropriate assessment tools used to determine that completion; and

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges communicate its position on community college high school diploma program graduation requirements to appropriate bodies and organizations (such as the System Office, the Board of Governors, the Consultation Council, etc.). MSC Disposition: System Office, Consultation Council, Board of Governors, Local Senates