Credit Flexibility
Ohio's Credit Flexibility Plan, Senate Bill 311 (the Ohio Core Legislation) raised the graduation requirements for high school students, with the goal of increasing the number of students who are ready to meet the demands of our global and technological age.
It included among its several provisions a requirement that by March 31, 2009, the State Board of Education adopt a plan that enables "students to earn units of high school credit based on a demonstration of subject area competency, instead of or in combination with completing hours of classroom instruction."
School districts, community schools and chartered nonpublic schools "shall comply" with the provisions of the plan, phasing in its provisions during the 2009 - 10 school year. Ohio's plan for credit flexibility is designed to broaden the scope of curricular options available to students, increase the depth of study possible for a particular subject, and allow tailoring of learning time and/or conditions.
Credit flexibility is intended to motivate and increase student learning by allowing:
- Access to more learning resources, especially real-world experiences
- Customization around individual student needs
- Use of multiple measures of learning, especially those where students demonstrate what they know and can do, apply the learning, or document performance.
