Comments for School Implements “Success Only” Plan at http://www.jbs.org , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.jbs.org Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:29:23 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.jbs.org/education-blog/4239#comment-121 Thank you, Jennifer, for your comments. Perhaps I put it poorly, but I wanted to make the point that because of the many home schoolers who enter the work force or college these days without a diploma, the government school issued diploma has lost a bit of its luster. Employers and colleges and universities have discovered that not having a diploma no longer means the person is a drop out or uneducated. While it's true many homeschoolers have diplomas issued by parents or umbrella homeschool programs -- parochial schools that are non-accredited issue these as well -- they really aren’t worth the paper they are printed on because of non-accreditation. Our own family's experience has shown that not once did a college ask to see the diploma or a transcript of grades; it is quite easy to enter college without any of this. Our children were sent to the local tech school where they first took a “placement” test, just to find out where they were. Some of them went on to take the HSED, which is an advanced version of a GED, but some of them did not. One of our sons was accepted into one of the top three engineering schools in the nation, just on the recommendation of the technical college after his placement tests, and a few courses. Entrance into any school of higher learning should be based on merit and not on a diploma granted by a government school that has continuously dumbed down its standards with the accompanying inflated grades, or on a diploma issued by the parents, either. - Ann Shibler Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:57:41 +0100 http://www.jbs.org/education-blog/4239#comment-112 I enjoyed reading this article. However, your comment that high school diplomas do not matter any longer "because of the homeschooling movement" is not quite correct. Home educated students are issued high school diplomas, just like any other high school student. Some diplomas are issued by the home educating parent, while others are issued by supervising or "cover" schools that oversee the student's education and certify that certain standards have been met. Parent-issued diplomas still have to be corroborated by transcripts, portfolios, recommendations, and standardized test scores in order to gain admission to college. So, while homeschoolers may be issued a slightly different type of diploma, they still receive one at the end of their high school education. I was not comfortable with the article's implication that home educated students do not receive high school diplomas, as this is not the case. - Jennifer Maassen Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:59:08 +0100