CALIFORNIA EXIT EXAM BOOSTS DROPOUT RATE
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: New York Times November 8, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Exit-Exam-Dropouts.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Submitted by Laurie Bobley
In 2006 California high school seniors were required to pass an exit exam to graduate. The exit exam is intended to measure English, math and algebra skills. In that same year, 26,000 seniors dropped out of school - that’s 10,000 more dropouts than four years earlier.
California lawmakers and others, including the Human Resources Research Organization, recommended that rather than an exit test, alternative assessments be considered to measure proficiency in these subjects. One proposed alternative assessment was a high school student portfolio, similar to those required in Massachusetts and Washington state for graduation. The recommendation to use alternative assessments has been made before, but the superintendent of public instruction has without fail, opposed it.
The test results and the dropout rate indicate that the achievement gap is lingering. According to a report compiled by the Human Resources Research Organization, Black, Hispanic, and ELL students, in general, do worse than white and Asian students on the test. They score lower still when they attend schools with a high percentage of similar students.
One fact is hard to refute after examining these results. A large number of students are not meeting the academic mark.
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2 comments:
It is sad that students have dropped out because of tests. It is important to understand that some students do not do well on tests in math, English, and other subjects and need alternative testing. In our classrooms we provide students with other assessments such as group work, projects, and portfolios. This should be done at the school, state, and national level also if we want to encourgae our students to learn and to keep them coming to school. We must encourgae change in our education system if we want to see it survive and succeed.
When will educators compute that these types of exams are not working and that alternative methods such as portfolios are needed. Should we lower standards? Certainly not! but we do need to examine the failures and make some changes where tests are just one part of the assessment package.
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