Here's why Indiana's high school diploma fix might not work

A bill has been filed to fix Indiana's broken diploma system, but at least one lawmaker said it might not be enough. 

Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, said he's not sure the fix proposed in his wide-ranging education bill will be enough to satisfy the U.S. Department of Education, which will no longer count one type of Indiana high school diploma in its calculation of the state's graduation rate. 

Initially, state education officials were looking for a way to mollify federal education law that would start calculating states' high school graduation rates using only the diploma earned by a "preponderance of students" — new language that experts say was designed to ensure states were pushing all students into rigorous diploma paths that prepared them for life after high school. 

Most Indiana students do earn a "college- and career-ready" diploma. Since 2011 the Core40 diploma has been the default diploma all students are expected to earn. It's the minimum diploma requirement for entrance into the state's public colleges and universities. About half of the state's students achieve it and an additional 38 percent of graduates go ahead and earn the Core40 diploma with honors, which will also count under the new federal calculation. 

The General Diploma won't. Students who earn it can still count themselves as high school graduates, but the federal government won't recognize it for calculation purposes because its requirements are less academically rigorous than those of the Core40, earned by a "preponderance of students."

The solution: offer one diploma. 

Behning's bill would condense the state's diploma offerings into one "Indiana Diploma," where the base requirements would mirror those of the General Diploma and designations would be awarded for completing the more rigorous standards that align with current Core40 and honors diplomas. 

The hope was that by offering "one diploma," the feds would count all of Indiana's diploma-earners and the state could maintain it's 87 percent graduation rate. 

Problem solved, right? 

Not so fast. 

Behning said early conversations with federal officials indicate that the U.S. Education Department might not accept Indiana's fix because the base diploma still wouldn't be considered "college- and career-ready." 

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"It appears that the USDOE, and I think this is probably correct, (will say) that our General Diploma is not college- and career-ready," Behning said. "It appears that the diploma type they'll count as the base will be the one that is college- and career-ready."

The "preponderance of students" language isn't the only piece that could snag Indiana. The law also states that the rate will count only students earning a "regular high school diploma" or higher. Federal guidance defines a regular high school diploma as one that is "fully aligned" with a state's standards. 

For Indiana's college- and career-ready academic standards, that would seem to be the Core40 Diploma. In the event that the state does move to one diploma, the federal government could still determine that the diploma that is fully aligned with the state's standards is the diploma with the Core40 designation.

Even with a single diploma model, the proposed legislation would keep the Core40 designation at the default diploma for students and require them to meet special requirements to opt out of the diploma with Core40 designation. 

So far, the federal education department hasn't weighed in on the diploma question. 

Behning said legislative leaders and Gov. Eric Holcomb's office are scheduled for a conference call with the department next week, for guidance. 

Experts are split on which way the department could rule. 

"It's a matter of how the department wants to interpret and carry out that definition," said Monica Almond, senior associate for policy development and government relations with the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Almond said the department hasn't signaled how it might rule on this issue, yet, but the intent is to only count those diplomas that ensure the students who achieve them are college- and career-ready. Doing so raises the stakes on states to make sure all students get equal access to the diploma program that best prepare them for life after high school. 

Indiana's General Diploma, or the single diploma equivalent, wouldn't meet that threshold, Almond said. 

"Reading the language on its face, even though it'd be awarded to a preponderance of students, it still says 'fully align with state standards,'" she said. 

Another expert says that pressing that issue with Indiana would be a break from how the department has treated states, thus far. 

Dale Chu was Indiana's assistant superintendent for innovation and improvement from 2009 to 2013, under former superintendent Tony Bennett. Chu served as an independent reviewer for state's ESSA plans. 

So far, the federal department given state's some leeway in the enforcement of ESSA, Chu said.

"The feds have, as much as possible, tried to be more hands off," he said. "So the idea that the feds are going to push really hard, push states into a corner where they have to lower graduation rates, I don't see push coming to shove in that particular regard."

Should the department get picky about which diplomas count in federal graduation rate calculations, Behning's bill includes a safety net. He's proposing flexibility in the math requirements to earn a Core40 designation. Traditionally, Algebra II has been one of the biggest hurdles to earning the Core40 diploma. His bill urges the State Board of Education to consider alternative math courses. 

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Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.