Dive Brief:

• After posting the highest graduation rate ever in the nation’s second largest school district, thanks in part to questionably rigorous credit recovery options, Los Angeles Unified School District administrators are taking a second look.
• The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board writes that students who passed an open-book pre-test with a 60% could skip the majority of their credit recovery courses, but the district is revising its standards and requiring a 70% to skip units as well as prohibiting skipping of any units that include writing assignments.
• Since 2010, NCAA policy has required online credit recovery courses to be comparable in length, content and rigor to traditional courses, a higher standard than even the University of California is demanding as it re-evaluates whether credits earned during credit recovery should count on student transcripts.

Dive Insight:

When Los Angeles Unified School District administrators announced the 75% graduation rate for the class of 2016, it was surprising for its record high and for its timing. Last year was the first year students had to meet more rigorous graduation requirements to get their diplomas, and in December, the Los Angeles Times reported the district said only half of seniors were on track to graduate on time. Credit recovery helped fill the gap.

While it is important to give students opportunities to make up for mistakes they made the first time around, it is the job of schools to prepare students for life after high school, whether that means college or career. If credit recovery courses are not sufficiently rigorous, students will end up paying for it in remedial classes in college — literally. Remedial course work that doesn’t count toward graduation requirements costs students and states billions every year.