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New grant program
promotes rigor in high school
A new federal grant program makes $790 million available in the
2006-07 academic year and $4.5 billion over the next five years.
The Academic Competitiveness Grant Program is designed to
encourage students to take more rigorous courses at the
high-school level and to place a greater emphasis on math and
science education in this country. It targets low-income college
students.
The program includes two types of grants: Academic
Competitiveness grants and National Science and Mathematics
Access to Retain Talent grants. The grants will be available for
the first time during the 2006-07 school year. Students must
meet certain income guidelines. They also must have completed
rigorous coursework in high school or be pursuing college
degrees in math, science or critical foreign languages.
“The big question with this new legislation has to do with the
definition of rigorous,” explained Rick Melmer, secretary of the
South Dakota Department of Education. “Right now, the U.S.
Department of Education is allowing states to determine what
constitutes a rigorous secondary program.”
For the immediate future, South Dakota will use its Regents
Scholars Diploma guidelines to define rigorous. Any student who
meets those requirements, as well as income requirements, could
be eligible for the grants. (Click
here to view Regents Scholars Diploma requirements.)
The federal government also will recognize three additional
options as meeting the requirement for rigor:
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Students completing the courses required under a State
Scholars Initiative, which South Dakota currently does not
have.
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Students completing a set of courses similar to those
required under a State Scholars Initiative.
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Students who can demonstrate that they have taken two
Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses
and received passing scores on the AP or IB tests.
The options outlined above will define rigorous secondary
programs for 2006-07 and 2007-08, while long-term coursework
guidelines are established.
“We worked quickly to establish these options so that deserving
students could benefit from the grants this year, while states
had the flexibility to recognize their unique rigorous
programs,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
in a news release. “As time goes on, standards will be tightened
and toughened. But these initial options will give states and
students the time to adjust if they start planning now.”
For more information on Academic Competitiveness and National
SMART Grants, visit
www.ed.gov.
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