Posted on 05/02/2003 4:22:01 PM PDT by John Jorsett
One in five students from California's class of 2004 won't get a diploma next year because they can't pass the state's High School Exit Exam -- numbers released Thursday that could prompt officials to delay the exam. It's a significant failure rate that state officials will consider later this summer. But the study also estimated the pass rate will be far worse for English learners and students with disabilities.
At least 53 percent of English learners and 72 percent of special education students from the class of 2004 can be expected to fail both the math and English portions of the exit exam, according to the Human Resources Research Organization, an independent contractor hired by the Legislature to evaluate the exam's effectiveness.
Those results provide fuel to a growing chorus of critics calling for a delay of at least a year or two.
The Board of Education is expected to decide by Aug. 1 whether to postpone the requirement. The board could also opt to lower the passing standard or take out the most difficult questions, two additional options suggested in Thursday's report.
"Any decision to delay would need to be balanced against the importance of staying the course on the positive reforms now taking root in many high schools across the state," said board president Reed Hastings.
In the Hayward Unified School District, however, at least 45 percent of the class of 2004 still hasn't passed the exam -- even after several tries.
Those who haven't passed are more than likely English learners, special education students or poor, said Debbie Bradshaw, the district's executive director of assessment.
"It just takes a little more time for the neediest students," she said, adding the district has introduced significant remediation for students who haven't passed.
The report found that while the exam has prompted schools to provide such remediation and increasingly teach the state's rigorous academic standards, not all students had been given the necessary skills in middle school to learn those standards.
The report's authors, however, noted that the class of 2005 or 2006 will have had more exposure to the state's standards than the class of 2004.
Civil rights advocates say the high-stakes exam punishes children who attend low-quality schools. A refusal to delay the exam could open up the state to lawsuits claiming it failed to give students an adequate education.
State education officials were reviewing the report and are expected to make a formal recommendation to the state Board of Education.
"This exam is a rigorous but a fair tool that allows parents, employers, colleges, local communities, and the students themselves to know that a high school diploma earned in California stands for solid academic achievement," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "I also appreciate the finding that a lack of prerequisite skills may have prevented many students in the class of 2004 from reaping the benefits of instruction in relevant content standards."
The Legislature adopted the High School Exit Exam in 1999 -- a cornerstone of Gov. Gray Davis' sweeping education reform efforts that included testing, accountability and rewards.
Students first take the exam in 10th grade and have several opportunities to pass the math and English sections. The next administration of the exam is May 13-15.
So9
Those high school students were still in middle school when Daivs was elected.
Unless I'm misinterpreting, this suggests to me that the one in five rate is not even including the English learners and students with disabilities. How very sad. I always wondered where Jay Leno finds those clueless people he interviews on the street, but this answers my question. I don't know what they're teaching in schools now, but they really need to get back to basics.
Of course we could not espect them to work a little bit harder now coul we?
I would bet that the numbers would be roughly 20%.
Or, alternatively, for the schools to actually teach them something.
Study after study reveals that public education students are failing a.) math, b.) reading, c.) writing, d.) history and e.) geography. Plus, they don't know a damn thing about the sciences.
All of which leads to a question:
Just what are they teaching -- for six hours a day, 180 days a year?
What criteria are being used to define "needy"? Just what is it that they need beyond a competent educational experience?
Well, they obviously did not each me how to proof read.
espect = expect
Having a test that can be passed by 90% of test takers means the test performs no useful measurement of the academic abilities of the average student (which may be the whole idea)
The whole point of testing is to seperate the above average from the below average -- but labeling kids "smart" vs "dumb" is politically incorrect.
The amount of academic progress you can make with a given amount of resources with a bunch of IQ-130 kids is nowhere near the same as the results you would get with IQ-100 kids, and probably could not be accomplished at all (regardless of resources) with IQ-70 kids. The current emphasis is on helping low-IQ kids meet minimum standards -- but it is the above average kids who will create the jobs for the next generation (or fail to) and thus determine the standard of living for the rest of the US
Ask the dimRats in the state legislature and the head of the extortion bureau, Gubinor Doofus. LOL
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