For some, exit exam taints rite of passage

Contra Costa Times ^ | 6/9/9 | Shirley Dang

[frogjerk]

In what marks a historic moment in California education, nearly 42,000 seniors will not be eligible for a diploma this spring after failing the California High School Exit Exam, a rule that was enforced for the first time this year.

A High School Diploma is supposed to mean something.

[sheana]

I heard somewhere that the high school exit exam actually tests 8th grade proficiency in these subjects.
Even if that is not true I have no sympathy for these students. You should know this stuff to graduate.......period.

[frogjerk]

After four years at Richmond High, both girls captured a spot on the honor roll. Both plan to attend college. Both dream of entering medicine; Mallory for physical therapy, Valenzuela for nursing.

...snip...

She does not qualify for a diploma after failing the English part of the high school exit exam

Obviously, the honor roll at Richmond High doesn't mean much.

[twigs]

Valenzuela wants to be a nurse. I want my nurses to speak, understand and use the English language proficiently.

[theDentist]

both girls captured a spot on the honor roll.

How can you be on the honor roll after failing your exams?

[ahayes]

Both dream of entering medicine; Mallory for physical therapy, Valenzuela for nursing. . .

Valenzuela held her own certificate. But in a way, she left empty-handed. She does not qualify for a diploma after failing the English part of the high school exit exam -- a denial she keenly felt during the ceremony.

If she wants to go into nursing she absolutely needs to be fluent in English. Jumping into college immediately would be a mistake, she ought to take English classes now and then go to college.

A lot of people are going to college unprepared, having to take remedial courses to get caught up, and then still dropping out.

[xsmommy]

During the ceremony, Valenzuela sat in the back with Cervantes, Echavarria and the honors students who traditionally pick up their diplomas after everyone else. In the audience sat Valenzuela's 3-year-old daughter, Aileen, and mother Adelma Ojeda

Perhaps if she had spent more time studying and less time becoming impregnated, she would have PASSED THE EXAM?

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Boo-freaking-hoo... Whiners all!

[bk1000]

No sympathy. Tired of graduating idiots with high self esteem.
Don't want to learn to speak english? GO BACK TO MEXICO!

[MrBlueSky2005]

Wow...who would have thought the purpose of school was to learn silly things like English...

[Eagles Talon IV]

We're talkin' California here, my friend, not to mention it's a gov't school loaded with union led losers for Administrators and teachers want nothing to do with being held responsible for the kids failure to learn.

[sheana]

Well if I remember correctly, from the original article about this, she is an illegal. Therefore, she would need an anchor baby, even if she was 13-14 (maybe 15) at the time of her pregnancy.

[hgro]

Stupid is as stupid does.

[Antoninus II]

Is this an article or an editorial? It's thick with touchy feely crap! The kids FAILED! No diploma, no celebration.

[DustyMoment]

Valenzuela held her own certificate. But in a way, she left empty-handed. She does not qualify for a diploma after failing the English part of the high school exit exam -- a denial she keenly felt during the ceremony.

"I am not OK with that," Valenzuela said.

Oh, Puh-LEEEEEEEZE!!!!!!!! You don't get a HS diploma for showing up for 4 years and sitting in class. You get it for absorbing the knowledge being disseminated and by being able to demonstrate that knowledge on a competitive examination. It is the state that accredits these schools and the state that must be able to stand behind the abilities of its HS graduates. Otherwise, the paper diploma is entirely without meaning.

But, let's extend the debate over standardized tests. In their lifetimes, these HS graduates will have to take and pass tests if they want to be:
1) A doctor
2) A lawyer
3) A CPA
4) A real estate salesperson or broker
5) A truck driver
6) A teacher
7) A construction contractor (electrician, carpenter, plumber, etc.)
8) A beautician/cosmetologist/barber
9) An insurance salesperson
10) A stockbroker

And the list goes on and on. Get over this whining about taking a standardized test to graduate from HS. For those who pass the test, it is positive proof that they learned the material. For those who don't, it's another reason to whine about discrimination and how life is so unfair.

Deal with it!!!

[doc30]

If this really is testing 8th grade proficiency, those kids should be denied a diploma and be required to take the necessary classes to get up to speed. I wonder f lack of English fluency is part of the problem. The names were all hispanic. If they can't bother to learn English properly, then it is their own faults, not the test's.

[ladyjane]

"Please do not listen to those who say it's impossible," Brown said. "Si se puede, si se puede."

A school board member who thinks speaking spanish in this country is a good thing. He sets a good example - NOT.

[ladyjane]

Don't worry about those silly tests to be a teacher, nurse, etc. They'll SUE!! It's the American way! Si?

[shag377]

I am a high school teacher in Georgia, and we have exit tests as well.

When our new principal came in, he established a similar program, albeit more severe. If you don't pass all sections of the test, you don't participate in graduation, period.

When it first happened, parents went bonkers, complaining that it was unfair and the kids had worked so hard and blah blah.

What they failed to mention is: 1.) the students were warned well in advance, around a year; 2.) tutoring for each test was provided free to any student; 3.) some students were pulled out of classes to attend other classes reviewing the same information on the tests; 4.) the local media, press and letters were sent to parents in English and Spanish, informing them of what was going to happen.

I am hard pressed to believe this article completely. I refuse to believe that the teachers and adminstration would leave these kids hanging without some auxiliary assistance. Leave it to the MSM to not cover the entire story.