As an increasing number of states adopt exit exams, concerns continue to grow.

State exit exams--tests students must pass to graduate from high school--are gaining momentum and being instituted in a growing number of states. According to the Center on Education Policy (CEP), 19 states had mandatory exit exams in 2003, and five more plan to phase in the tests by 2008.

Presently, 52 percent of public school students and 55 percent of minority students live in states with high-stakes tests. According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, by 2008 about seven in 10 public school students and eight in 10 minority students will be affected by exit exams if states continue with their plans.

But what impact, if any, are the exams having on student outcomes? A recent report by CEP found that the No Child Left Behind Act has had a significant impact on the performance goals and content of exit exams. And most states are using the tests to comply with the high school testing requirements of the federal legislation.

The exams appear to be positively influencing curriculum content and instruction leading to greater curriculum alignment and focus within districts and schools, according to CEP. But advocates, educators and parents are equally concerned that the tests are unfair, might increase dropout rates and are negatively affecting student performance in a number of ways.

When Massachusetts instituted the state's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), career and technical education advocates questioned the fairness of the test for CTE students. All 10th-graders are required to pass the MCAS in order to receive a high school diploma, regardless of whether they are in CTE or academic programs.

Career education advocates, including the Massachusetts Vocational Association (MAVA), argued that CTE students are at a disadvantage taking the MCAS because their primary coursework involves hands-on practical experiences, which the test does not measure. Alternately, academic students spend 100 percent of their time studying the subjects covered on the tests, making them adequately prepared.

MAVA called on the state department of education to give CTE students credit and recognition for their technical skills attainment, and not have students' graduation eligibility be based solely on a test designed for academic students.

But in the end, 86 percent of CTE students in the state passed the MCAS exam in 2003. However, MAVA noted (see Career Tech Update June 2003) that this achievement came at a price: CTE students now have a 50/50 split schedule between academics and job training, leaving students at a higher risk of unemployment following graduation because they lack higher-level technical skills.

In another example, parents in Delaware this spring fervently opposed a proposed three-tier diploma system for high school graduates that would rank members of the class of 2004 as either "basic," "standard" or "distinguished." Advocates for Children's Education, a parents group, argued that it is unfair to hand out the tiered diplomas based on one test score and not take into consideration students' grade point averages or other evidence of performance throughout their high school education.

And disabled students in Alaska, Oregon, Massachusetts and California have respectively filed lawsuits over the past two years claiming that state exit exams discriminate against them. Students in each case have asked that they receive testing accommodations as well as alternative assessments for those who have difficulty demonstrating their knowledge and skills on standardized tests.

In Florida, 12,500 students were faced with the possibility of not graduating in 2003 after having failed the state exit exam tests repeatedly. After a public decry, legislators enacted a measure to allow students who failed the tests to use other test scores such as the SAT and American College Test (ACT) as a condition of graduation.

The increasing concern regarding exit exams has forced states including Florida, Alaska, California, Maryland and Louisiana to take action. Several states have amended, postponed or changed their exit exams in order to address concerns raised by the public--while keeping the core elements of their exams in place.