PROVIDENCE — To ensure that a high school diploma in Rhode Island really means a student is prepared to graduate, education officials are developing tougher graduation requirements that would go into effect over the next few years.

Instead of merely requiring that students pass 16 to 20 courses in key areas to complete high school, officials are recommending that students show they have mastered material and skills in three ways:

•Passing a minimum of 20 rigorous courses that align with grade-level expectations developed by the state Department of Education.

•Scoring proficient or better on statewide tests given junior year in English and math.

•Completing two out of the following three: a portfolio, senior project or end-of-course exams.

For the first time, standardized test scores would appear on a student’s official high school transcript, enabling colleges to view the results.

Education officials are proposing that each of the three areas — courses, tests and project-based work — count toward one-third of a student’s graduation requirements, although they have not worked out what score must be reached in each area. Students who fail to reach proficiency on standardized tests would be given another chance later in their junior year or at the beginning of senior year.

Currently, the statewide tests, which assess 10th-grade-level work, count toward just 10 percent of a student’s graduation requirements.

“When we give diplomas, we want the student and the student’s parents to know there is an inherent value in the degree, and it is not just ‘you got through 12 years of school and survived,’ ” said David V. Abbott, deputy commissioner of education. “We want employers to be able to count on a student with a diploma to perform at a certain level. We want to make sure graduates have opportunities available to them.”

The Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education discussed proposed changes to secondary school regulations at a meeting last Wednesday and agreed to hold public hearings this winter to get input from teachers, parents and the larger community.

Once the Regents have received feedback and refined the proposal, they plan to vote on the changes by June, Abbott said.

If approved, districts would be encouraged to adopt the new system by 2010. The schools then would be authorized by the state to issue “Regents’ approved diplomas.” All districts would be required to do so by 2012. Districts that do not comply would be prohibited from issuing any high school diplomas.

The proposal also calls for giving struggling students more literacy assistance if they enter ninth grade reading below grade level.

“You can have all the high expectations you want, but if you don’t have supports in place to help students who are struggling, it’s no good,” Abbott said.

Robert G. Flanders, chairman of the Board of Regents, questioned why the standardized test scores would not count 50 percent or more toward graduation, a “high-stakes testing” move some states have adopted.

“Right now, I’m seeing a lot of holes in the Swiss cheese and not a lot of cheese,” Flanders said, adding that he was concerned that students who are not literate are being permitted to graduate from the state’s high schools.

Peter McWalters, commissioner of education, said Rhode Island decided several years ago to allow students to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of ways — including test scores, but not relying primarily on them.

By using three measures — coursework, tests and projects — educators can gauge not only how a student is progressing, but also the strength of a district’s education program, a comparison that today is difficult, McWalters said. A district that gives out a high number of A’s and B’s, yet has many students failing to meet proficiency on state tests or failing on portfolios would indicate the district is lax in grading or offers inferior classes.

“This is a huge change for our system,” McWalters said. “This gives us ways to review protocols in high schools about how they grade students. We can use these components as a program barometer and zero in where the problems are.”

The Regents are also considering other changes for middle and high schools, such as requiring that:

•All middle schools offer advisory classes.

•High school and middle school teachers meet at least 30 minutes a week for common planning time. High schools would have to increase those sessions to two 30-minute meetings a week by 2012; middle school teachers would have to meet for 30 minutes four times a week.

•Districts develop individual learning plans for each student by fifth grade. It is unclear how effective these plans would be. Districts would decide how the plans are created and maintained. The information would not be linked to the student identifier system the state developed a few years ago to track a student’s progress through the K-12 system.

jjordan@projo.com