[Source: Paul Davenport, Associated Press Writer] — Future Arizona high school students will have to complete more math and science courses to graduate. The state Board of Education on Monday increased the number of math and science classes that students must take to graduate, starting with freshmen entering high school next fall and ratcheting up even more one year later. Currently, high school seniors must complete two math and two science annual credits to graduate, though some districts and charter schools already have higher requirements than those of the state.
The math requirement would rise to three credits beginning with the graduating class of 2012, students entering high school next fall. It would rise to four, including Algebra 2 or its equivalent, starting with the graduating class of 2013, students entering high school as freshmen in the fall of 2009. The science requirement will increase to three starting with the graduating class of 2013. The changes, which also would increase the total required number of course credits to 22 from the current 20, represent a new front as Arizona pushes to bolster its K-12 academic achievement.
[Note: To read the full article, click here. To read an Arizona Republic op-ed piece in favor of the new requirements, click here. To read the Tucson Citizen’s coverage of this issue, click here.]