Exit exam might not be last word

HB 1531 that appears to be right now on Gov. Schwarzenegger’s desk mirrors our own struggle in Texas for multiple assessment criteria at both the exit level and other levels (grades 3, 5, and 8) affected by social promotion. This only impacts the evaluation of the students, and not the schools and districts as federal NCLB law requires. Based on information for the Campaign for Quality Assessment (CQA) in California, another piece of legislation, SB 517, is calling for a delay in the Exit Exam's diploma penalty until students in all high schools have access to un-crowded classrooms, the materials and technology that they need, the teachers they need, and access to counselors and other critical elements of a quality education. I’m unaware of the status of that legislation, however.

I hope that the governor acknowledges the importance of fair and valid assessment, and conversely, the harmful effects of high-stakes testing. This is not—or should not be—a partisan issue, the bills are neither Democrat nor Republican in nature. Instead, they’re pro-child and pro-assessment.

-Angela

Exit exam might not be last word
State schools chief is looking at graduation alternatives

By Laurel Rosenhall -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, October 1, 2005
Story appeared on Page A1 of The Bee

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State schools chief Jack O'Connell said Friday he will consider "additional options" that would give the 90,000 seniors who have yet to pass the California High School Exit Exam a shot at graduation in June.
O'Connell said his decision does not waver from his long-standing belief that the state should not make special accommodations for students struggling to pass the exam, which is a graduation requirement this year for the first time.

But his comments drew sharp criticism from the test's supporters, who said the superintendent was sending a mixed message to students, teachers and parents.

"We're staying the course, but does that mean we should preclude every possible option?" O'Connell said. "We're going to look at (other options) very carefully, but it's not a change of position one iota."

Jim Lanich, president of California Business for Education Excellence, called O'Connell's announcement a retreat that threatened efforts to hold students of all racial and economic backgrounds to the same academic expectations.

"It's a sad day when the adults of the state will redraw targets before targeting the problem that kids are not being taught what they need to know," Lanich said.

O'Connell's comments followed the release Friday of a report by an independent consultant that said about 78 percent of the class of 2006 has passed the exam, which tests students on seventh-and eighth-grade math skills and ninth-and 10th-grade English skills. Students must pass both parts.

The report, by the Virginia-based Human Resources Research Organization, shows that African American, Latino and low-income students - who pass at lower rates than their white, Asian American and affluent peers - made big gains between 10th grade and 11th grade.

The report's authors recommend that California maintain the exam as a graduation requirement. But they suggest the state provide options allowing students who don't pass to receive a diploma. Those could include:

* A senior-year portfolio that contains a body of work showing a student has mastered the skills on the test.

* A ceremonial certificate that's not a diploma.

* Additional years of high school.

* A summer school class after 12th grade that allows students to earn a diploma if they pass.

* New community college programs focused on teaching skills tested on the exit exam.

O'Connell said his staff would examine the options in preparation for the Legislature's reconvening next year.

But educators who work with students say they are worried any changes could confuse students who have been told for years they must pass the exam to graduate.

"For most kids, it won't affect them substantially. They want to pass the exam," said Ted Appel, principal of Sacramento's Luther Burbank High School, where 201 seniors have yet to pass the test.

"But for some, it creates a mixed message. ... It will affect their commitment and our ability to send out a strong message that they need to be focused on getting better."

Russlynn Ali, director of Oakland-based Education Trust-West, said the improved passage rate among African American, Latino and low-income students shows the test is working.

"We need to be applauding that as a state today, not working backward" by creating other options, Ali said.

She said she was shocked at O'Connell's announcement.

Some of the suggestions in the report amount to small changes of options that already exist. For example, students who do not graduate from high school already can enroll in community college and earn a GED. And some districts now offer summer school classes targeted to exit exam skills.

Other suggestions would expand rights now granted to students in special education, who may stay in school until age 22 and earn a certificate of achievement that is not a diploma.

Allowing a portfolio of work to substitute for passing the exam, however, would be a departure.

John Rogers, an education professor at UCLA, said he supports creating options that allow more students to graduate.

But he said debating alternatives in January creates a troubling timeline.

"It puts all of these young people in this extraordinarily vulnerable position and puts the educators working with them in an uncertain position as well," Rogers said.

A bill on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk would create similar alternatives to the exam. Rogers said approval of AB 1531 would be the quickest way to start developing options.

But O'Connell said he remains opposed to the bill, and he has asked the governor to veto it.

So has Scott Himelstein, Schwarzenegger's deputy secretary of education. But Himelstein said Friday he was open to creating alternatives to the exam, as long as they require students to demonstrate the same skills.

Patty Sullivan, director of the Center on Education Policy in Washington, D.C., which studies exit exams in the 20 states that use them, said O'Connell's suggestion is rare. Changes usually aren't made within a school year, she said.

"At the same time you have to appreciate how politically sensitive high school exit exams are," Sullivan said. "So it's not unusual to see (politicians) trying to get the most students over the bar in a way that doesn't lower the standards."


Read the 2005 Evaluation Report of the California High School Exit Examination

About the writer:
The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall can be reached at (916) 321-1083 or lrosenhall@sacbee.com.

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