Who knew "forced graduation" was a thing?

Arizona schools are failing some of their most vulnerable students in an effort to protect the system. As highlighted in a recent investigative article, special education students in high schools across Arizona are facing “forced graduation” - being pushed out of school before they are ready in order for schools to boost graduation rates. This alarming trend reveals a education system that prioritises performance metrics and administrators’ interests over the needs of students.

The article exposes how school districts across the state are hurriedly graduating special education students who have not yet met academic or transitional goals, simply because they have passed an age or credit threshold. This “conveyor belt” approach leaves students and families surprised and unprepared for life after high school. All the while, schools benefit from improving their on-time graduation rates, a key factor in the state’s school grading metrics.

In multiple firsthand accounts, families share how they were caught completely off guard by schools’ abrupt graduation notifications regarding their children. This is a failure by administrators to appropriately support some of their highest-need students during major educational transitions. Sadly, it reveals the backward priorities of a system that is willing to toss its students aside instead of giving them the extra time and support they are legally entitled to.

The article exposes gaping holes in Arizona’s education policies that allow schools to prioritize institutional self-interest over their core mission - serving all students. Until these perverse incentives around graduation rates are realigned, the state’s most vulnerable students will continue to be marginalised and denied the support they deserve. These students should not be considered “graduated” until appropriate goals are met and proper planning for their transition has been conducted. As the review will elaborate, Arizona must put the focus back on students where it belongs.

Transition Goals and life after high school in the US

A key reason that prematurely pushing students with IEPs to graduate is so troubling is that it overlooks the central importance of Transition Goals in these students’ IEPs. IEPs outline customised learning goals and supports for students with disabilities, based on their specific needs. For high schoolers, a major component of IEPs are the transition goals - the life skills and competencies they need to develop to thrive after graduating. These are vital for students with IEPs, setting goals for skills like handling money, using public transportation, or succeeding in post-secondary education or employment.

Unlike typical students who may just need to hit credit thresholds, students with disabilities must meet these additional specialised goals before they are truly prepared to graduate. Their learning challenges mean achieving these goals can reasonably take longer than four years. Unfortunately, the conveyor belt pressure around graduation rates ignores this reality. Schools narrowly focus on credits, passing classes, and checking boxes rather than fully preparing the student. This completely defeats the purpose of IEP transition goals in the first place. More time in high school can be critically important for special education students to gain skills like self-advocacy, social interaction, and independent living. By prematurely “graduating” students who have not met their transition goals, schools do them an tragic disservice and set them up to flounder.

I’m noticing a pattern …

As a SpEd RSP teacher, I am deeply troubled to hear about the unethical practices happening in Arizona schools. I feel fortunate that I teach here in California where we have stricter accountability and oversight around treatment of students with IEPs. Whilst no system is perfect, California has made real strides in recent years to align education policies to the interests of students rather than institutional pressures.

For example, our state education code has clear restrictions on students with IEPs graduating before meeting their IEP goals. School administrators face scrutiny if they skirt these rules. And unlike Arizona’s school grading metrics based partially on graduation rates, California's systems track additional outcomes like college/career readiness that encourage schools to fully prepare students rather than rushing them out. Do students still slip through the cracks here? Unfortunately, yes. But there seem to be fewer dark corners for them to fall into.

My heart goes out to those dedicated SpEd teachers in Arizona who have to fight uphill battles against administrators just to serve their students. They are doing their best in a bureaucratic context that works against them. As the article highlights, even parents have difficulty getting their child's needs addressed. Whilst I still need to advocate strongly for my students, at least I don’t have to deal with “forced graduation.” My energy can go fully to the students rather than wrestling policies and administrators. My hope is that by exposing what's happening, Arizona can start making reforms...though students there can't afford to wait. I wish their families and teachers strength for the fights ahead to get accountability and student-focused reforms implemented.