4,542 seniors to graduate after passing exit exam

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 6/1/6 | Nanette Asimov

[SmithL]

SACRAMENTO - In an 11th-hour victory, 4,542 high school seniors will be allowed to graduate with their class this month because -- at last -- they passed California's controversial exit exam in March, the latest test results show.

The newly victorious bring the total to 394,794 students in the Class of 2006, or about 90 percent, who have passed the graduation test required by the state for the first time this year. Still, 41,758 seniors have not yet passed the test of 8th- to 10th-grade math and English skills.

What remains unclear is how many of those 41,758 seniors, who represent 10 percent of this year's class, would be eligible to graduate even if the exit exam were not required.

But last year, 9 percent of seniors failed to earn a diploma even though the exit exam was not a graduation requirement.

"We must focus now on doing everything possible for those students whose graduation must be postponed because they have not yet mastered the skills in English and math that they will need to succeed past high school," said state Superintendent Jack O'Connell, who wrote the exit exam law in 1999 when he was a state senator.

In February, a San Francisco law firm sued O'Connell on behalf of all students who would be denied a diploma solely for failing the exit exam.

Attorney Arturo Gonzalez of Morrison & Foerster asked that the exam be halted immediately on grounds that low-income students of color had less of an opportunity to learn the material on the exam because their schools were substandard.

Of this year's seniors who have not yet passed the test, 64 percent are Latinos, many of whom speak little English.

Low-income seniors also are struggling: 61 percent of those who haven't passed are poor.

[SmithL]

See what a little incentive can do?

[SmithL]

Study or Sue?

Sue or Study?

So many hard choices, but it looks like the folks that studied made the right choice.

[Texasforever]

Or maybe a bit of creative grading.

[samiam1972]

Ha! I read the title and my first thought was of a bunch of elderly people going back to school. I can be a real dunce sometimes! Wonder if I could pass that test!!

[Right Wing Assault]

denied a diploma solely for failing the exit exam

Isn't that enough of a reason since it sounds as if they have failed it at least twice. That's a bad sign.

[Texas Songwriter]

DEfining education down. Dumbing down graduates is a facade to hide the real problem.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Of this year's seniors who have not yet passed the test, 64 percent are Latinos, many of whom speak little English.

Of those, how many are legal citizens?

[hauerf]

"Still, 41,758 seniors have not yet passed the test of 8th- to 10th-grade math and English skills."

One has to wonder how a person can have become a high school senior if he is unable to pass tests of 8th to 10th grade math and English skills.

[Prokopton]

"Of those, how many are legal citizens?"

I presume none of them as it's a requirement to read and write English to become a U.S. citizen.



www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/natz/general.htmp>

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Our tax dollars at work:

1: Providing barely functional education (at public expense) to
2: Illegals (not all, there are obviously some "unteachables" in every sector of society plus legal and illegal children who "just got here" so they have no command over English) so they can
3: be cared for, coddled, given special treatment (at public expense)
4: so that many more (remedial) teachers and support staff can be hired (at public expense) to populate
5: an ever-enlarging dependent class(es) who will require welfare or assistance (at public expense) to get by

But at least we'll have folks who'll do the jobs Americans won't do. (at public expense)

Galls me.

[mysterio]

Funny story. My college was one of the last to keep comprehensive graduation exams as a requirement for graduation. I took mine, and initially seemed to flunk it terribly. This was odd for me, as I kept a fairly high GPA. I wasn't alone. The kids in my class who passed it did great, but about half the graduating class flunked it in a major way. Turned out that there were two versions that the testing service graded off of the same key. Whoops. After taking a real browbeating from my professors over flunking, they suddenly discovered that we all passed it with flying colors. Our tests had been graded from the wrong key. And we didn't even get an apology.

And no, not one of us filed suit over the mistake.

[NinoFan]

Good job to those who decided to study instead of sue. As for the others...

[singfreedom]

What happens if this lawsuit is won by the anti-testers. Would all these kids just be passed, and graduated, whether they can speak/write English or do 10th grade math? That seems like an extremely stupid thing to do.

Sorry, but I think, at least, being able to SPEAK English should be a requisite for graduating from a U.S. high school. I can't think of ANY circumstances under which this would be inappropriate.

On another, but related topic, has anyone else seen the film of masses of Mexican youngsters crossing the border each morning to attend schools on the U.S. side of the border? I believe it was on O'Reilly last week. I was appalled! It evidently happens on a regular basis.

[ExTexasRedhead]

California Exit Exam:

1+1 = 3

[FlingWingFlyer]

When they finally do away with these pesky, "controversial" exams, I'm going to quit my job and become a brain surgeon or maybe a lawyer, they make a lot of money. Or maybe I'll be a rocket scientist. Right now, the only thing standing in my way are those wacky, "controversial" exams. Those exams are racist you know.

[SAJ]

Give these 'graduates' the same -- the VERY same -- test in 6 weeks' time and have the results graded by any independent company/group/firm that does this sort of thing, and we will all find out straightaway that 95-98% of them were slid through the system.

[sageb1]

"Or maybe a bit of creative grading."

That was my thought, as well.

[thomaswest]

"Still, 41,758 seniors have not yet passed the test of 8th- to 10th-grade math and English skills." One has to wonder how a person can have become a high school senior if he is unable to pass tests of 8th to 10th grade math and English skills.

Agree. I have no sympathy for whiners who can't do simple math and can't use English at the level of punctuation and plurals. The number of freepers who can't understand they're, their, there is also appalling.

[hauerf]

"The number of freepers who can't understand they're, their, there is also appalling."

Their, their, just calm down, old man. I can tell your old becuase you ovioulsy gradyuated from skool when it was still teching speling and gramer.