A diploma is currently based on credits earned and time spent in school. It gives little or no indication of what a graduate knows and can do. Some may indicate that it is required for college entrance. Few will relate the assignment to the acquisition of knowledge or skills that lead to successful adulthood.
Many students can describe what they are doing or taking.
However, they have a more difficult time describing what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how they can use it upon leaving school. Many educators also have a difficult time explaining this. Much of the current emphasis in school today is to prepare students for more school. Second grade teachers get students ready for third grade, middle school teachers get them ready for high school, and high school teachers get them ready for college. We need a system that also prepares students to be successful when they are no longer in a classroom.