More than 40 percent of San Diego Unified students are in danger of a not graduating under the new standards to ensure students are college ready, according to a district report.
The new standards, called the A-G Plan, ensure that college-prep courses are offered equitably throughout the district, regardless of neighborhood income or ZIP code. The Class of 2016 will be the first class to graduate under the new standards, which is more in line with the University of California and California State University entrance requirements.
The district has already made some strides in preparing students for new graduation standards — 50 percent of the Class of 2014 met the standards compared to 59 percent projected for the Class of 2016. Though the district will have to do better if it does not want its graduation rate to drop. Last year’s graduation rate was 88 percent, the second best in the state for large urban school districts.
The report shows that girls are more prepared than boys with 66 percent projected to pass compared to 54 percent for boys. Meanwhile, white (80 percent) and Asian students (71 percent) have a better chance at graduation than black (45 percent) and Hispanic (44 percent) students.
The A-G standards called for four years of English, three years of math, three years of history and government, three years of science, two years of the same foreign language and one year of visual and performing art with at least a D or better in those courses. A cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better is needed in order to graduate.
