WICHITA, Kansas — Most school districts in Kansas have broadened the ways in which students who have fallen behind can get back on track for high school graduation, often without repeating a whole semester or year of school.
Credit recovery programs in Wichita include night classes, teacher-staffed learning centers at every high school, and the Simon Youth Academy at Towne East Square a shopping mall. Other districts employ in-person or online resources where students can make up work and earn credits after failing a class.
“Life happens for our students,” said Wichita Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld.
“You might have a semester that doesn’t go well for whatever reason — some family issue, you’re working a lot, there’s all sorts of reasons why. And so we give students a second chance to make up those credits.”
Gabriel Kasabdaje is one of those students. He got his diploma from Wichita North High School during a special ceremony in June, after making up required credits during summer school.
“My dad left the country, so I had to work and go to school at the same time,” Kasabdaje said. “It was a little hard for me.”
Jessica Ross ended her senior year at Wichita East High lacking several key credits in English, math and science. She said she was able to complete assignments and get the credits she needed in time to walk across the stage in June.
“There were days that I wanted to give up, but I told myself not to give up,” Ross said, holding a bouquet of flowers and stuffed animals from family and friends after the ceremony at Heights High School. “I wanted to make my mom proud.”
Some educators and community members worry that the growth of credit recovery may be boosting graduation rates without ensuring that students actually learn the material and meet state standards.
Michelle Vann, a former history teacher and member of the NAACP Wichita branch, said she’s talked with parents who wonder how their children were able to make up a semester’s worth of work in just a few days.
“Kids would come in … not passing, and (teachers) would give them these packets,” Vann said. “And then all of a sudden, they would have enough credit.”
Vann and other Black community members met with Bielefeld last fall to express concern about graduation rates rising while scores on standardized tests remain low. They also questioned the rigor and accountability of some credit recovery programs.
“It’s not like it’s brand new, but it’s become much more prevalent,” Vann said. “Teachers question it as well. They’re saying, ‘Well, how does this work?’”
Credit recovery has become more popular across the country, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. Programs that allow students to retake failed courses — many of them virtually or with self-paced learning platforms such as Edgenuity — are seen as a way to boost graduation rates and address learning gaps.
This fall, Wichita plans to launch two new in-person credit recovery programs.
The South High Alternative Academy will serve sophomores who end their ninth-grade year with few or no credits. About 125 South High freshmen fell into that category this past spring.
“The hope of this is that we catch some of those (students) early enough to get them back on track,” said South High Principal Travis Rogers. “We were after the students that truly wanted to be at South. They were showing up every day or most days, but they were struggling.”
School leaders interviewed families and winnowed the group to 14 who will participate in the pilot program this fall. The school-within-a-school program will include intense mentoring and allow students to recover freshman-year credits while earning sophomore credits.
“Tough conversations (with parents) when you’re explaining exactly how the freshman year went, and that the goal is still to graduate in three years,” Rogers said. “Change had to happen.”
Another new credit recovery program at Wichita West High will focus on seniors and take place after school hours.
Lauren Hatfield, Wichita’s assistant superintendent of secondary schools, told the school board recently that students must master subject-matter standards to earn credits and graduate, whether they are enrolled in regular classes or credit recovery.
“When you say ‘master,’ what does that entail?” asked board member Melody McCray-Miller. “What does ‘master’ mean?”
“That is up to the individual classroom teacher,” Hatfield replied. “Their job as educators is to evaluate whether that student sitting in front of them has shown enough proficiency on the standards for that course to receive a passing grade for that course.”
“So, it sounds as though it is somewhat subjective,” McCray-Miller said.
“Grading will always be subjective, yes,” Hatfield said.
School board member Stan Reeser said credit recovery programs are necessary because a high school diploma can change a student’s trajectory.
“I will always defend credit recovery because I’ve actually sat in on those credit recoveries. They’re very rigorous, and there’s no games being played,” he said.
Reeser added that students who make mistakes deserve a second chance.
“As long as I’m on the school board, we will always be aggressive on credit recovery,” he said. “The Wichita Public Schools is always going to have to make an extra effort to get these kids to the finish line.”
Suzanne Perez reports on education for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KMUW, KCUR, Kansas Public Radio and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
