Standards aren't enough.

Byline: The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran Jan. 26, 2007): The State Board of Education's new high school graduation requirements include four years of English, three years of science and three years of mathematics at the algebra 1 level or above. An editorial in the Jan. 24 Register-Guard misstated the period of study in those subjects that will be required for a diploma.

Setting high expectations is an essential part of the effort to ensure that Oregon high school students will graduate with the skills they need for college and work - essential, but not sufficient.

Unless students are given the means to succeed, high expectations by themselves invite frustration and failure. The State Board of Education's approval last week of tougher high school graduation requirements is welcome, but it's only the first step.

The board's vote ensures that Oregon will lose the unwanted distinction of having some of the country's least demanding requirements for a high school diploma. Progress in this direction was already under way; the 2005 Legislature approved a bill increasing the number of math and English/language arts credits needed for graduation. The education board made the math requirement more rigorous, and also increased the required number of science courses.

The class of 2012, today's seventh-graders, will need four semesters of English/language arts and three semesters of science - including two lab courses such as biology, chemistry or physics. The class of 2014, today's fifth-graders, will need three semesters of math at the level of algebra 1 and above. To receive a diploma, high school students will also have to prove they've mastered an as-yet-undefined set of "essential skills."

The current requirements are three semesters of English, two of science and two of math at any level. It's not surprising that many students coast through high school, and find themselves unready for college-level studies or lacking in basic workplace skills. Most graduates, regardless of whether they continue their educations, said in a 2005 poll that they wish they had taken more challenging classes in high school. More than a quarter of first-year college students need remedial education in reading, writing or math.

The push for greater rigor and higher standards for high school graduation responds to sink-or-swim conditions in the global economy. If members of the next generation of Oregonians hope to prevail in increasingly brutal academic and workplace competition, they'll need better preparation for study, work and citizenship. Other states and nations are already acting to give their students the educational advantages that correlate directly with social and economic well-being. Oregon can't afford to fall further behind.

High standards, however, are worse than useless without realistic means of meeting them. Some students in high school today would be utterly unprepared for three courses of algebra 1 and beyond. Some schools lack the teaching staff or the classroom equipment that will be needed for the added math and science classes. Students who are currently in elementary and middle school will need to be made ready, starting now, for the high school requirements that await them.

Unless students are given the educational foundation required for success in demanding math classes or science labs, many will fail or drop out of school altogether. Unless courses that meet the new requirements are taught by qualified teachers in properly equipped classrooms, students will earn empty credits leading to meaningless diplomas.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has included $10 million in his budget to help school districts prepare for the new graduation requirements, and the Board of Education intends to create a committee to track their implementation. These steps are evidence that state officials understand that additional resources will be needed, but the commitment must be both adquate and sustained.

Oregon ought to have high expectations for all its students - but it's cynical at best, and cruel at worst, to raise the bar for graduation without providing students all they need to get over it.