House Bill 3278 creates new graduation requirements
House Bill 3278, recently signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt, is making some
changes to graduation requirements for Oklahoma’s high school students.
Most notably, students will be required to take a fourth mathematics credit. Additionally,
under the current law, students were required to have either two computer science or
two world language credits. Under House Bill 3278, world language would be
encouraged, but not mandatory. However, individual districts could still require world
language if they so choose.
The new requirements create pathway units that mandate that students have six units
that relate to the goals after high school, whether that is college or a career. The six
credits could include core subjects like English, science, history, or math, or electives
like fine arts, concurrent college classes, and internships.
Since Oklahoma schools are already required to have students create ICAPs, or
Individual Career and Academic Plans, which are designed to help students create a
vision for their future and develop their own goals, many believe the new graduation
requirements better align themselves with students’ ICAP.
“We have our students create profiles where they create an interest inventory for career
paths they lean toward. Each field has its own cluster with courses that are
recommended for the fields they are interested in,” said Marietta High School Principal
Michael Oakley. “The new curriculum grants the flexibility for students to take more
courses that will better prepare them for those career paths, rather than the old path
that was decided for them.
The flexibility of HB 3278 is something that it’s supporters tout. For years, many have
said that Oklahoma’s graduation requirements took a cookie-cutter approach to a high
school diploma, where, regardless of whether a student was going to college, the
military, trade school, or into the work force, every student was forced to take the same
classes.
Because it encourages students to take courses that are more relevant to the post-high
school plans, HB 3278 is believed to better meet students’ individual needs.
The additional credit of mathematics is aimed at reducing remediation for college
students in math, the most common remedial subject in Oklahoma’s higher education
system. However, eighth grade Algebra will count toward the credits, as well as some
computer science classes.
Another benefit to the new plan is that it matches the requirements for the Oklahoma’s
Promise scholarship without students having to take additional courses.
The new plan, which will go into effect for the class of 2030, will require that students
pass four credits of English/Language Arts and mathematics and three of lab sciences
and history.
Since Marietta has an eight-period day, students must have a total of 27 credits to
graduate. After meeting basic requirements, this leaves students plenty of options to
gain information in career areas that best fit their future plans.
“There is always a learning curve for new things,” Oakley said, “but I believe this will
ultimately be better for our students because it will give them more flexibility to make
choices about their own future.”