For high school students with special needs, failing a class or receiving an incomplete not only impacts them academically, but emotionally as well. As they watch their classmates move ahead as they fall behind, many experience a sense of isolation and a hit to their self-esteem.
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
It’s that time of year again when we send our graduates off into the world and celebrate their accomplishments. Whether students are embarking on careers or heading off to college in the fall, we applaud the effort and dedication of these students and the teachers who guided them along the way.
A diploma alone doesn’t mean students are prepared for college, work and life after high school. Performance on high-stakes assessments, like the SAT and ACT, also are an indicator of college and career readiness.
But test scores are trending down. In 2015, high school graduates had the lowest scores on the SAT in 10 years. The percentage of students who reached the college-ready benchmark on both exams was less than half — dipping as low as 20.8 percent on the ACT.