High School Graduation Tests: Solution or Problem?

By 2012, almost three-quarters of the nation's public school students in 26 states will have to pass a high school graduation test. The Center on Education Policy believes that exit exams have a significant impact on a student's education. States are leaning toward implementing end-of-course exams, which I assume would be standardized in order to maintain a consistent amount of rigor. By 2015, 11 states will include end-of-course assessments, including Maryland. Schools are moving away from exams that assess below the high school level. The overall idea is that teachers will be more likely to teach to a higher level. Another solution to the bad teacher problem.

I don't completely disagree with end-of-course assessments. Coming from the Massachusetts's public school system, I didn't have to take any myself, but I trusted that my teachers were doing a good job. I see the purpose and value in these changes, but I also foresee many challenges. As a teacher in a school that services over-aged and under-credited students, I witness daily the struggle of convincing a student that they should come to school at least three days out of the week, pushing a student to take notes even though they can't read the words that they are copying, writing notes to students' bosses asking them to cut their hours during the school day, sending home work when a student's child is sick, and transitioning a student back from being incarcerated.

There are many things holding a child back who is raised in poverty. I would never lower my expectations, but I am also realistic. Many of these students have made it to high school, some even to senior year, without reading or writing well. How long do I hold them back? Until they age out? When a student is almost 21, do you tell them that because they can't pass the high school test they will have to take the GED? Will we force more students to become drop-outs?

I witness students making up credits with "online" classes that are a joke. The teachers help them submit work. I watch students that I failed take my courses online, and I can't believe that my credit and that credit are worth the same. Clearly we are trying to give students diplomas, raise the graduation rate, and open up some opportunities. Until we figure out the problem of dealing with poverty and education before a student gets to high school, though, I think it's a hard bargain to push for a graduation test. It's not a student's fault if they had some bad teachers in their childhood. It's not even their fault if they missed a lot of school. They may make amazing gains in high school but that may not make up for the serious lack of gains they experienced in elementary and middle schools. To be honest, I don't know where I stand on this issue because I see so many problems with simply trying to raise graduation rates without assessments, but I also see why the push is enticing. Perhaps we should take a step back and ruminate on this a bit.

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thehomeroom/2008/08/high-school-exi.html