Seeking to motivate high school kids, the Board of Education will soon offer students the option of a "College and Career Ready Diploma" in addition to the regular diploma.

The new voluntary diploma requires students to take higher levels of math and English. Students who opt to stay with the current requirements will get a regular diploma. The College and Career Ready Diploma begins with the Class of 2013, according to new rules adopted by the Board of Education last week.

While the business community and the University of Hawai'i have shown support for the new standards, some are concerned that students who opt not to earn the "super diploma" will face social stigmas.

Education officials say the new voluntary diploma is a way to "increase rigor" and ensure that students are prepared to succeed once they matriculate.

"It's setting a target for the level of coursework that students should be taking so that they can transition into careers or college without having to be remediated," said Tammi Chun, executive director of the Hawai'i P-20 Initiative, a statewide effort to create collaboration between early childhood education, K-12 and higher education.

Chun said many students are sorely unprepared for college coursework, pointing toward startling remediation rates at UH community colleges.

On community college placement exams, some 80 percent of students do not test into 100-level courses, meaning Algebra 2 or above. Fifty-three percent of students don't even score high enough to be placed in Pre-Algebra.

"In the DOE standards, that's something (students) should have by the eighth grade," Chun said.

And in English, some 62 percent of students do not test into 100-level courses, meaning college-level English.

READY TO GO TO WORK

While much of the focus of the new diploma is on preparing students for college, officials said the requirements also will prepare a student if they intend to get a job after high school.

Kathryn Matayoshi, executive director of the Hawaii Business Roundtable, said employers are finding students don't have strong writing and math skills after graduating from high school.

She said many employers with entrance exams, including Hawaiian Electric and the Hawaii Carpenters Union, are finding poor pass rates, especially in math.

"Kids who are setting goals, taking tougher courses, it says something about their character. Employers see them as someone who will work hard," Matayoshi said.

Under the new graduation requirements — starting with those entering high school in fall 2009 — students will be able to choose whether they would prefer to earn a regular high school diploma or the College and Career Ready Diploma.

The choice is similar to the choice students currently have to either work toward a regular diploma or a BOE recognition diploma. The new diploma will replace the BOE recognition diploma and specifically outlines the level of coursework students must complete.

For instance, in math, students would take four credits instead of three and would need to complete Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 and an Algebra 2 end-of-course exam.

For English, students would still earn four credits but would need to complete a semester of expository writing.

In science, students would still need three credits, but two of the credits should be Chemistry, Biology or Physics.

SOCIAL STIGMAS

Not everyone thinks giving students a choice between diplomas is a good idea. Even some board members have questioned whether students who decide to earn a regular diploma could suffer social stigmas.

Susan Matayoshi, whose daughter attends Niu Valley Middle School, said students who opt not to get the Career or College Ready Diploma could be looked at as "taking the easy way out."

"I think (the DOE) should challenge the students more," she said.

She added that she thinks this new diploma is a step in the right direction for preparing kids for college.

And what is to encourage students to strive for the tougher diploma?

The UH Board of Regents has approved a plan that makes students automatically eligible for the B Plus Scholarship if they graduate with the new diploma and have at least a 3.0 grade-point average. The B Plus Scholarship is based on financial need and is distributed to students depending on how much additional money they need to meet tuition and other fees at one of the four-year or two-year UH campuses.

UH is also looking at providing guaranteed admission or waiving placement exams for any student who attains the new diploma, said Linda Johnsrud, UH vice president for academic planning and policy.

The Hawaii Business Roundtable is looking at ways businesses could provide preference to students who earn the tougher diploma, Matayoshi said.

Employers say the new diploma would help.

Ron Taketa, financial secretary of the Hawaii Carpenters Union, said carpentry is one job that tends to get a lot of people with only a high school diploma, and "40 percent of the apprentices can't pass an eighth-grade math test."

Similarly, the pass rate for plumbers and fitters was so low that test questions were reduced to basic algebra and the union conducts its own remedial math course once someone enters, he said.

"For us, anything that enhances their math skills would certainly help," Taketa said.

He was also encouraged by the increased emphasis on writing, even though that's not necessarily a requirement for the job.

"Interpersonal skills and communication skills are important in any employment setting," he said.

TEACHER TRAINING

State Sen. Sam Slom, executive director of Small Business Hawaii, said he supports anything that gets kids into tougher classes and achieving more. But he wasn't sure a new diploma necessarily means someone is ready for the workforce.

"Businesses try to look at the total person regardless of the type of diploma or degree someone has," he said.

BOE Vice Chairwoman Karen Knudsen said she is seeking assurance from education officials that teachers will have the skills and training to implement the intensive writing courses required by the new diploma.

She is also concerned about the increasing of credits to 25, which the diploma requires. Currently students take six classes a year for four years, resulting in 24 credits. The new diploma, with 25 credits, leaves little room to fail a class, she said.

"With the additional credit and virtually no summer school under the school calendar ... we could potentially have a train wreck," Knudsen said.

"We really need to increase the rigor, but we need to ensure that all students can meet this. And realistically, folks fall through the cracks," she said.

Pearl City High School Principal Carlyn Fujimoto echoed some of Knudsen's concerns. But she said she is more focused on how much time her school has to prepare for the new standards.

"Our concern is not so much how it is going to be implemented, but when," she said.

Fujimoto said the bigger question, in terms of the new math requirements, is whether students entering high school will be prepared for them. For entering freshman, that'll mean they should have already taken Pre-Algebra in middle school, which is not always the case.

"They may not necessarily be prepared," she said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.