The Echo

Shane's Story:

I first met Shane about two year ago, he was a UD student also employed by the University. By virtue of being a UD student, you know that Shane earned a high school diploma and he is, proudly a graduate of one of Delaware's Vo-Tech High Schools.

But, Shane was not always destined for post-secondary greatness, or post-secondary anything. In fact, it was through a moment of despair that Shane found the strength to achieve. It began with a principal who thought so little of Shane that he flat out told him, "You will never get a diploma from my school." Perhaps such an edict was issued to inspire the student? Shane assures me that this was not the case. The words stung and left Shane feeling helpless and demotivated, as intended. But, that statement also sparked a fire and ultimately it drove Shane to apply himself, to overcome lifelong challenges, and to define his own destination.
Had Shane's principal never issued such a demeaning challenge, this young man would have drifted through high school, his formal education culminating with a Certificate of Performance. Most principals would consider Shane's success a feather in their cap. If only, this administrator had had such noble intentions.

High School Diplomas are revered as interest property. Those who argue for performance certificates assert that it is the integrity of the diploma itself that they are trying to protect. I disagree, let the post-secondary educators sort that out. Young adults are admitted to college based upon more than the ownership of one document; they are judged on their applications, essays, records, and assessments. The possession of a diploma is a formality for students who have truly earned acceptance to college (and I am not by any means devaluing the supreme accomplishment of these students.

In fact, in the 1982 case of Brookhart v. Illinois School Board of Education, the court ruled that " In deciding whether a high-school diploma was a "protective liberty or property interest," the denial of a diploma clearly affects a student's reputation and attaches a stigma that "will have potentially disasterous effects for future employment or educational opportunities." (Don Severner; Edweek.org; January 19, 1983, Special Ed Decision Reversed.)

To that end, a brief query of the Career Builder website found 171 jobs in the Wilmington Region requiring either a High School Diploma or GED, such as jobs working in healthcare facilities doing laundry or serving meals to residents. And herein lies one of the biggest problems for adults with Certificates of Performance: When a potential employee fills out the online job application, the employer's filter to is going to flag it for deletion because that application does not reflect that applicant holds a Diploma/GED. And they don't. However, the last time I checked, it was well within the scope of our many of special education vocational track students to be able to perform either task by age 21.

Let's be clear: No self-respecting adult would give a typical high school student of document entitled Diploma of Attendance, Performance, or Completion. Yet, we are comfortable giving out certificates of such names to student who frequently work harder and longer to learn practical skills than their typical peers work to earn academic credits.

Why?

Why, indeed?