EinBebop
11-06-2002, 11:30 PM
I just finished up a short paper about the new high school exit exams in California, and thought I'd share it here and see what people's thoughts were. Thoughts on the exit exam, not my writing ability. :p
What does a high school diploma mean? Does it say that a person has reached a certain level of knowledge, or is it a reward for four years of (more or less) hard work? California has chosen the former. Starting with the coming 2003-2004 school year, all students in California must pass a high school exit exam demonstrating proficiency in English and math.
In English, students must demonstrate knowledge meeting 10th grade content standards, while the math portion of the exam requires students to be able to perform at the level of Algebra. This sounds quite reasonable to some, since current California standards make math an 8th-grade level class. But some claim that the math portion of the exit exam is more demanding than the math portion of the California Basic Education Skills Test, which is required by all teachers seeking a teaching credential.
In Kern County, 61% of juniors passed the English portion of the exam given last spring, while only 43% passed math. The math score is over 10% below the state average. The county superintendent’s office is confident that this number will go up, as this is the first time that many students have taken the test, many of whom had not completed Algebra yet.
The first students to fall under this new requirement still have over a year-and-a-half until their graduation date to pass this new requirement, but already the protests are mounting. One Kern County mother, whose son has not been able to pass the math exam yet, faults not only the test for being too hard, but the school system for not letting out what’s on the test. She is already planning to initiate a class-action lawsuit if he does not pass.
Another interest group protesting the exams is special education. Only 17 percent of special education students in Kern County passed the English portion of the test given last spring, and only 8 percent passed math. Some complaints, however, seem to ignore the fact that waivers are available for special education students, including accommodations for the use of calculators and even exams given orally.
In Massachusetts, a lawsuit has already been filed by six students of the Class of 2003. Their lawyers are hoping to turn this into a class-action lawsuit, claiming that the test discriminates against minorities, limited-English students, and students with disabilities. The spokeswoman for Massachusetts’s education department is not surprised, stating that “Every state that has ever instituted a high-stakes test as a graduation requirement has been challenged in court. Texas’s exam survived a similar challenge in 2000.
With lawsuits looming on the horizon, how can schools and even individual teachers protect themselves from the inevitable? At Delano high school, all students are required to pass several ‘90% quizzes’ in order to pass Algebra. There are fifteen in all, one for each standard that they are expected to know when they complete Algebra. Students must pass every one with an almost perfect score to pass the class. Students are allowed to retake these quizzes as many times as they need until they can pass. At the very least, Delano High School will not be accused of letting their students “slip through” without knowing the material. Taft High School’s English department seems to be taking a similar approach; all students there are required to turn in writing assignments that are evaluated by the entire staff.
It's still a long road to June 2003. The California Department of Education is conducting a study on the early test results, and it's not out of the question that the exam requirement could be delayed for retooling. But the exam is almost certainly here to stay, and teachers must consider how they will meet the challenge of preparing students to meet the new requirement.
What does a high school diploma mean? Does it say that a person has reached a certain level of knowledge, or is it a reward for four years of (more or less) hard work? California has chosen the former. Starting with the coming 2003-2004 school year, all students in California must pass a high school exit exam demonstrating proficiency in English and math.
In English, students must demonstrate knowledge meeting 10th grade content standards, while the math portion of the exam requires students to be able to perform at the level of Algebra. This sounds quite reasonable to some, since current California standards make math an 8th-grade level class. But some claim that the math portion of the exit exam is more demanding than the math portion of the California Basic Education Skills Test, which is required by all teachers seeking a teaching credential.
In Kern County, 61% of juniors passed the English portion of the exam given last spring, while only 43% passed math. The math score is over 10% below the state average. The county superintendent’s office is confident that this number will go up, as this is the first time that many students have taken the test, many of whom had not completed Algebra yet.
The first students to fall under this new requirement still have over a year-and-a-half until their graduation date to pass this new requirement, but already the protests are mounting. One Kern County mother, whose son has not been able to pass the math exam yet, faults not only the test for being too hard, but the school system for not letting out what’s on the test. She is already planning to initiate a class-action lawsuit if he does not pass.
Another interest group protesting the exams is special education. Only 17 percent of special education students in Kern County passed the English portion of the test given last spring, and only 8 percent passed math. Some complaints, however, seem to ignore the fact that waivers are available for special education students, including accommodations for the use of calculators and even exams given orally.
In Massachusetts, a lawsuit has already been filed by six students of the Class of 2003. Their lawyers are hoping to turn this into a class-action lawsuit, claiming that the test discriminates against minorities, limited-English students, and students with disabilities. The spokeswoman for Massachusetts’s education department is not surprised, stating that “Every state that has ever instituted a high-stakes test as a graduation requirement has been challenged in court. Texas’s exam survived a similar challenge in 2000.
With lawsuits looming on the horizon, how can schools and even individual teachers protect themselves from the inevitable? At Delano high school, all students are required to pass several ‘90% quizzes’ in order to pass Algebra. There are fifteen in all, one for each standard that they are expected to know when they complete Algebra. Students must pass every one with an almost perfect score to pass the class. Students are allowed to retake these quizzes as many times as they need until they can pass. At the very least, Delano High School will not be accused of letting their students “slip through” without knowing the material. Taft High School’s English department seems to be taking a similar approach; all students there are required to turn in writing assignments that are evaluated by the entire staff.
It's still a long road to June 2003. The California Department of Education is conducting a study on the early test results, and it's not out of the question that the exam requirement could be delayed for retooling. But the exam is almost certainly here to stay, and teachers must consider how they will meet the challenge of preparing students to meet the new requirement.