Posted on 06/21/2009 9:37:50 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Amid yet another round of budget negotiations, Democrats made a surprising and controversial proposal this week: Suspend the state's high school exit exam.
The move was largely inspired by philosophical worries: Democrats on the influential budget conference committee say they cannot in good conscience mandate the exam for students while at the same time propose to slash education funding by millions of dollars more.
"When the state is making cuts that could lead to a shorter school year, fewer teachers and larger class sizes, it doesn't seem realistic to expect the same results as before the cuts," said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, in a statement.
Educators and business leaders blasted the proposal, saying the two-part multiple- -choice test of basic math and reading skills is a cornerstone of the state's "accountability" system. Though it's unclear whether the test will survive the budget negotiations, the fact that Democrats, traditionally strong allies of public education, put it forward has test advocates worried the exit exam is vulnerable.
Diploma requirement
Since 2006, high school students have been required to pass the test in order to get their diplomas. But an estimated 40,000 students, more than half of whom are special education students, don't pass the test annually.
Under the Democrats' proposal, students would still have to take the test once — to comply with federal "No Child Left Behind" regulations — but it would cease being a graduation requirement until at least 2012-2013.
"People in the field say the exit exam is the greatest high school reform effort we have made in a generation," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who, as a legislator, wrote the bill creating the exam.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I would prefer a situation where the government did not set a minimum score to graduate on the exit exam but where colleges and businesses were free to set their own minimum scores for applicants without fear of "disparate impact" lawsuits.
ping for later
Karen Bass is a drama queen.
It is the nature of talent distributions that as long as different subgroups exhibit variation along any aptitude dimension, there will be disparate impact when that particular aptitude is tested, regardless of where the pass bar is set. I can’t jump.
And heaven forbid that the exit exam results show that the shorter school year and less teachers have absolutely no effect on pass rates...
You have to be f’ing kidding me. Because the bureaucrats cannot properly manage a state budget, now they say they can’t hold kids responsible? WTF?!!!
As far as I’m concerned, they could completely defund public ed and those students who want to be educated will still find a way to be so.
We just can’t force failing students with uncaring parents to get an education.
Why not just close the damn schools and give everyone a diploma? Most of those public cesspools are turning out a bunch of know nothings anyway.
They know that dumb people vote for Democrats.
It really sounds like they are trying to run out the clock and then pass a last minute tax increase with the aid of a Rino or two.
Gas tax, alchohol tax, soft drink tax, car tax, cig tax..etc etc. When all else fails..tax the poor.
It really sounds like they are trying to run out the clock and then pass a last minute tax increase with the aid of a Rino or two.
Gas tax, alchohol tax, soft drink tax, car tax, cig tax..etc etc. When all else fails..tax the poor.
This thing is too crazy for words.
The study also found that the exam does not motivate low-achieving minority students and girls--those who scored in the bottom 25 percent on state standards tests given in the ninth and 10th grades--to work harder and study more in order to earn a diploma.
The researchers found that minority students--blacks, Hispanics and Asians--received lower scores on the exit exam than white students who had the same level of prior and current academic achievement. They also found that girls received lower scores on the math section of the exit exam than boys who had the same level of prior and current academic achievement.
Ok, this one is right out of Monty Python...
The researchers ruled out differences in school quality, as well as racial and gender bias in the test, as explanations for the large racial and gender differences found in the study.
There is more believe it or not.
While white students and boys may experience stress from fear of failing the test, minority students and girls taking the test "experience stress from two sources: fear of failing the test and concern about proving a negative stereotype," the study said.
Yea, we can’t be doing anything that would prove actual facts and reality!
So, what is the bright idea now? Get this...
"If exit exam policies like California's are to be retained it is imperative that they be accompanied by serious efforts to ameliorate their negative effects on minority students and girls," the researchers wrote.
In other words they must find a way to neuter the white males.
.
The fact that so many lower grade students can pass it points out its worthlessness.
Dump the damn thing, in fact dumb the state/fed run school system and privatize it. Get the government out of it totally.
however they are told they can't graduate until they finish their senior year...
“When all else fails..tax the poor.”
And lie about it.
“We just can’t force failing students with uncaring parents to get an education.”
That is the money quote - no pun, just real life.
Good call!
to
I work at an overwhelmingly Hispanic high school in California. Students arrive in 9th grade and still do not put periods at the end of their sentences. For many, the most basic punctuation and spelling is beyond them. Teachers have “simplified” their curriculum to accommodate huge numbers of failing students. Now teachers have begun teaching the exit exam rather than their subject, since there is so much pressure on them to have their kids pass- and so much federal money involved. Our school dedicated three weeks to simply testing this semester.
I suggested to a couple of students that they had a final that afternoon and they might want to study through lunch to prepare for it. They looked at me like I was crazy. I explained that students at other schools often study through lunch and they couldn’t believe it. They’ve never seen it.
Many of our students don’t even show up for the two days of semester finals. It’s half day and their parents let them stay home. Teachers have started giving finals a week early to ensure the students will be there to take them.
Most of the families do not provide pressure at home to do well in school AND follow through with applying the pressure. Many of our students did not pass the exit exam, but we gave them a nice “certificate” and allowed them to walk in the graduation ceremony in a nice cap and gown. Their families were very happy with that. Exams don’t motivate students; parents do.
Those of you in other states do not understand what the California educational system is dealing with: a tsunami of illiterate, unmotivated students. They don’t know what a seal is; they don’t know how many times 2 goes into 6; they don’t put a capital at the beginning of a sentence; they’ve never been to a zoo, a beach, or a public library; they can’t spell; they all reinforce the poor grammar spoken all around them; they don’t even bring a pencil to school half the time; they rarely take books home; and there is no stability or routine at home. This is our typical high school student- and there about 30 of them in each and every class.
What would you do? This is high school. We are reduced to drilling them on their multiplication tables! These are our future Americans. They were born here, but they have not adopted the American work ethic or standards of personal excellence. At 14, they are truly ignorant of literature, science, math and history.
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