DC Public Schools
Draft Graduation Requirements
March 30, 2006

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Graduation Requirements

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

All students who graduate from a high school of the District of Columbia Public Schools must have met the following requirements:

Character Requirement: A record of good citizenship and conduct in high school is required for graduation. This requirement is of equal importance with those governing attendance, course credit, and specific subjects. The regulations of the Board of Education and Discipline Code for the District of Columbia Public Schools define these qualities of behavior. The code of conduct guidelines for parents and students will be distributed annually.

Credit Requirement: In order to meet requirements for a standard diploma, students must successfully complete 26.0 Carnegie Units to earn a standard diploma. Students must receive at least a "C" to receive credit for the course. A Certificate of Completion will be awarded to special education students whose disability significantly impacts their ability to complete standard diploma course requirements. Students who earn more than 26.0 Carnegie Units will receive a diploma of honorable distinction.

Carnegie Unit/Learning Unit: A course will consist of 140 instructional hours, which is equivalent to one learning unit or 8400 minutes. The newly proposed school calendar year to be implemented in 2007-08, reflects a year-round schedule. Within this framework, 192 days of instruction will be offered. This schedule allows for 3 school year intermissions and a summer intermission.

Individualized Graduation Plan (IGP): All students must complete an individualized graduation plan by the 9h grade with their school counselor. This plan will provide direction for students' postsecondary experience in academic and career components. Students will also be required to maintain a portfolio that will minimally include their transcript, career assessments, college admissions scores, community service experiences, sample resumes, awards, vocational certifications, extracurricular activities, etc.

PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS

District of Columbia End-of-Course /Performance Assessment: In addition to satisfying the proposed new graduation course requirements, all students will be expected to complete End-ofCourse/Performance-based Assessments. Mastery of learning standards will be demonstrated through these measures. End-of-course exams to be administered are Algebra 1, Geometry, English I and II and Biology beginning with the 2006-2007 school year. End-of-course exams for other core areas will be added in subsequent years. Students who do not score "proficient" on the end-of-course exam or performance assessment will be required to take intervention courses.

Support Programs and Additional Instructional Services: The District of Columbia Public Schools will provide support to students needing additional assistance in meeting graduation requirements. Students who do not score "proficient" on the endof-course exam or performance assessment will be required to take intervention courses. Intervention courses may be offered and/or in evening school, Saturday school, and intermission school. An intervention course will consist of a minimum of 50 hours which will provide students opportunities for skill enhancement and subject matter review. Upon the completion of this course, students will be allowed to retake the end-of-course exam/ performance assessment

Dual enrollment programs will also be available to eligible students. Participants will take postsecondary courses through our High School Internship Program (HISCIP) on local university campuses while enrolled in high school.

Specific Course Requirements: The new graduation requirements represent a more rigorous course study for all students and better align students for college. Every student is required to earn credit as indicated in the following courses in grades 7-12:

College and Career Preparation: All students will be required to complete 2 CUs in college and career preparatory courses. These courses include IB, AP and career-technical education (CTE) choices. Students can elect to become CTE and/or IB program completers by utilizing 2 CUs from their allotment of electives.

Electives: Students will have 2.5 CUs to utilize in order to complete their well-rounded academic experience. See College and Career Preparation

English: 4 CUs of English; levels 1, II, III and IV, must be completed in order to graduate. Students will be exposed to writing a junior thesis during their junior year.

Fine Arts: All students must complete a single semester course in music and art. 0.5 CU

Health/Physical Education: All students must complete 1.5 CUs in physical education. An additional half credit must also be completed in the component of health education for a total of 2.0 CUs.

Mathematics: 4 CUs of mathematics with at least Algebra I should be completed by all students. Students should complete Algebra I by the 9th grade to gain exposure to the skills and concepts they will need in order to take the PSAT and SAT college entrance exams. Sequential courses should include Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Trigonometry, PreCalculus, Calculus and AP Calculus.

Science: 4 CUs in science are required for graduation in course selections which include: biology, chemistry, physics, and earth or environmental science.

Senior Composition: The intent of this course is to enhance students' ability to write and score well on the SAT. During this course, all students must complete a senior project which includes a junior thesis, portfolio and presentation. Students will be exposed to writing a junior thesis during their junior year. 1.0 CU
Social Studies: 4 CUs are necessary to graduate which include: DC History, US Government, US History, and World History I and II. World Geography and Economics are embedded within the curriculum of these prescribed courses.

World Language: All students must complete 2 consecutive CUs in a foreign language of the same choice. Advanced diploma students must complete 3 units of foreign language.

Grade Points: Grade points are used in determining grade point average and rank in class. The District of Columbia Public Schools currently assigns points as: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0 Honors and AP courses are awarded extra points of 0.5 and 1.0 respectively. International Baccalaureate courses also receive 1.0 point value.

Service Learning: All students must complete 100 hours of service learning/community service to fulfill the high school graduation requirement. Students are encouraged to complete the majority of the hours by the end of their sophomore year. Additional service learning/community service information can be found in the school counselor's office.

Graduate Survey: All seniors must complete and return the graduate survey configured by the Office of Academic Support/ CTE on in collaboration with the Office of Counseling Support.

Senior Exit Process: All seniors must show proof of signature in order to prove ready to exit the District of Columbia Public Schools having met and satisfied all graduation requirements and the completion of all exit forms. The OneApp financial application from the State Education Office must also be completed in order to exit to ensure that all district resident students take full advantage of the district's based scholarship and tuition assistance grant program for postsecondary education.

Office of Academic Services 
Proposed Graduation Requirements
Beginning with the entering 9th Grade Class of 2006-2007

Note: Students will be required to complete a senior project and 100 hours of community service in order to receive a standard diploma.
Students must complete coursework to satisfy technology requirement or score proficient on assessment to opt-out. A Certificate of Completion will be awarded to Special Education students whose disability significantly impacts the completion of any of the course requirements.

Division of Academic Services 
Chief Academic Officer 
revised 3/30/06