The Kentucky Board of Education met today and a number of important items were on the agenda.

Action was taken on a final version of a much-revised set of minimum high school graduation requirements. These have been steadily watered down as various education interests have pointed to supposed problems with earlier, notably more rigorous versions of the requirements.

In the end, the status quo is only nudged a bit.

There is a very minimal requirement that students pass what in essence seems to be nothing more than an eighth-grade level math and reading evaluation. And, that can be over-ridden by superintendent action.

Tightening things a bit more, students also have to meet at least one of a list of Graduation Qualifiers.

These include:

1. Precollege curriculum as established by the Council on Postsecondary Education in 13 KAR 2:020; or

2. Benchmark score in one section of a college admissions or placement examination as established by the Council on Postsecondary Education in 13 KAR 2:020; or

3. Three postsecondary credit hours or more of a Kentucky Department of Education approved dual credit course with a grade of C or higher; or

4. One course and corresponding assessment meeting the following criteria:(a) Advanced placement (AP) with a score of three or higher; or(b) Cambridge Advanced International (CAI) with a score at or above benchmark; or(c) International baccalaureate (IB) with a score of five or higher; or

5. Industry certification as approved by the Kentucky Workforce Innovation Board on an annual basis; or

6. Four credits from valid courses within a single KDE-approved career pathway; or

7. A Kentucky Department of Education approved process to verify 500 hours of exceptional work experience, or alternative requirements as prescribed in a student’s IEP.

The bar established here isn’t very high. Even Kentucky Commissioner of Education Wayne Lewis admitted as much.

In fact, the very minimal math and reading requirement is probably going to upset a lot of folks in higher education and business and industry, but the department of education encountered fierce opposition from many educators to its earlier and more rigorous proposals.

Some of those concerns educators raised seemed valid, but there still remains an odor of let’s not do much so Kentucky’s inflated picture of graduation rate happiness doesn’t get shaken.

Only time will tell if this watered-down set of standards will have much positive impact on graduation quality, but for sure there doesn’t seem to be any quality control over Kentucky’s high school diplomas now, so even this incremental change might be of some help.