[Oasfaa] Oklahoma's "Certificate of Distinction"

[Fair, Bryce]

We received a question about Oklahoma's "Certificate of Distinction" that was cited in the May 3 Dear Colleague letter (GEN-06-08) as an option for the "rigorous secondary school program of study" required for the new Academic Competitiveness Grants (see http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/GEN0608Attach.doc ).  The letter and attachment identified 4 options for students to meet this requirement:

*	The USDE listed specific programs in 19 states including Oklahoma's "Certificate of Distinction".  The Certificate of Distinction was created by the Oklahoma Legislature in statute (Title 70, Section 11-103.6d; see the full text below) in 2000 and authorizes local district school boards to award the certificate to students that meet certain criteria.  The requirements include"
	- 3.25 GPA on 4.0 scale
	- 4 units each of English, math, social studies and science
	- 2 units from technology, humanities or the arts
	- 2 units of foreign language
	- satisfactory scores on all end-of-instruction tests required by state law

*	The State Scholars Initiative requirements.  You can see the requirements for Oklahoma's version of this program at http://www.obecinfo.com/oklahoma_scholars.html  The program is administered through the Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition.  The curriculum is slightly different than OHLAP.

*	A required set of courses similar to the State Scholars Initiative.  This is described in the attachment to the Dear Colleague letter.  It too is slightly different than OHLAP.

*	Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses and test scores.  This option requires students to have taken at least two of these types of courses and have achieved minimum passing scores on the exams for those courses.

>From our initial review, it appears that neither the OHLAP curriculum nor the new high school college-preparatory curriculum that goes into effect for 2010 Oklahoma high school graduates would qualify (OHLAP and the new high school college prep curriculum are very closely aligned).  However, as the letter states, if a state wants other curriculums to be considered, the "State Education Agency" (Oklahoma State Department of Education) must submit a request to the USDE by June 1.  We have alerted staff with the State Department of Education, as well as staff with the Executive branch and the legislative branches about this situation.  We expect discussions over the next couple of weeks and will try to keep you informed of further developments.


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Statutory text for Certificate of Distinction

§70-11-103.6d.  Certificates of distinction.

A.  District boards of education may develop and issue a certificate of distinction that is to be awarded to students, beginning with students in the 2000-2001 high school graduating class who have met or exceeded the following criteria by the end of their senior year in high school with at least a 3.25 grade point average on a 4.0 scale:
	1.  Earned four units each in English, mathematics, social studies, and science;
	2.  Earned two additional units in the area of technology, the humanities, or the arts;
	3.  Earned two units in a foreign language; and
	4.  Achieved a satisfactory score, or its equivalent, on all end-of-instruction tests as required pursuant to Section 1210.508 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes, as those tests are implemented.

B.  For purposes of this section, applicable vocational-technical classes offered by comprehensive high school vocational-technical programs shall qualify for technology, science, and mathematics units.  Students enrolled in the programs may use one unit of their six concentrated vocational-technical curriculum units for one unit of mathematics required by this section and one unit of their six concentrated vocational-technical curriculum units for one unit of science required by this section.  Advanced placement classes in the subject areas listed in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of subsection A of this section may be substituted on a course-by-course basis to satisfy the academic units required for a certificate of distinction.

C.  For purposes of this section, "unit" means a Carnegie Unit as defined by the North Central Association's Commission on Schools.

Added by Laws 2000, c. 232, § 2, eff. July 1, 2000.

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Bryce Fair 
Assoc. Vice Chancellor for Scholarships & Grants 
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education 
Phone:  (405) 225-9162 
Fax:  (405) 225-9230 
E-mail:  bfair at osrhe.edu 

Mailing Address: 
P.O. Box 108850 
Oklahoma City, OK  73101-8850 

Street Address: 
655 Research Parkway, Suite 200 
Oklahoma City, OK  73104