Michigan Considers Requiring High-School Students to Take at Least One Online Course

Abstract

High school students in Michigan will be required to take at least one online course in order to graduate under a proposal before the Michigan State Board of Education, which is expected to approve it. Mike Flanagan, the Michigan state superintendent of public instruction, offered the proposal as a way to help students in the state prepare for college and for professional lives, which he said increasingly employ technology. The board is expected to pass the new regulation, which would make Michigan the first state to require an online course for a high school diploma. Kathleen N. Straus, president of the board, said, "We think we'd be on the cutting edge" if they pass the new rule, which would still require the approval of the state legislature and the governor. The proposal would allow noncredit online courses, such as ACT prep classes, to count toward the requirement, but Flanagan said he hopes students would choose to take for-credit courses.