Is the exit exam movement losing steam?Despite strong support for high school exit exams among some parents of minority students, a recent study shows that no states adopted new exit exam requirements last school year, breaking a trend. The Center on Education Policy in its annual national survey of exit exams, State High School Exit Exams: A Challenging Year, found that 25 states either already have or are phasing in exit exam graduation Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the associated ceremony. The date of event is often called degree day. The event itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation. requirements. Sixty-five percent of the nation's high-school students live in states with requirements. "As far as we can tell the evidence shows that the emphasis on graduation tests is not producing improved educational outcomes when you look at independent measures," says Monty (programming, abuse) monty - /mon'tee/ Any program with a ludicrously complex user interface that performs a trivial task. An example would be a menu-driven, button clicking, pulldown, pop-up windows program for listing directories. Neill, executive director of FairTest, which opposes the requirements. Many in the business community strongly support such requirements, saying they help ensure that high school graduates are prepared for the workplace. "For far too long a high school diploma A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for government jobs and higher education. An equivalent is the GED. has not been meaningful," says Susan Traiman, director of public policy for Business Roundtable Business Roundtable (BRT), an association consisting of the chief executive officers of major U.S. corporations that was founded in 1972 through the merger of the three preexisting business organizations. . The report is unlikely to end the swirling controversy about the merits of exit exam requirements. A study this year by University of Minnesota (body, education) University of Minnesota - The home of Gopher. http://umn.edu/. Address: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. researchers found that the requirements lower graduation rates, denying diplomas to students who otherwise would have received them. The study also found that exit exam controversies tend to die down in the years after a state first withholds diplomas. Although the report stated that there may be more controversy in ethnically diverse states, a recent poll by New America Media found surprisingly strong support for exit exams among Latino, African-American and Asian parents in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). . ADDITIONAL FINDINGS: * One state--Utah--backed off from plans to withhold with·hold v. with·held , with·hold·ing, with·holds v.tr. 1. To keep in check; restrain. 2. To refrain from giving, granting, or permitting. See Synonyms at keep. 3. diplomas in 2006. Other states may be waiting to see how legal challenges in California and Arizona play out. A California state appeals court upheld the requirement in August. * States are becoming more flexible in their exit exam policies. Over the past year, at least three states--Arizona, Washington and Maryland--expanded alternate paths for struggling students to receive a diploma DIPLOMA. An instrument of writing, executed by, a corporation or society, certifying that a certain person therein named is entitled to a certain distinction therein mentioned. 2. . Those paths include substituting scores on other tests like the SAT or taking a state-developed alternative assessment. * Although new studies show that exit exam requirements may hurt graduation rates, the requirements do not seem to be among the most significant factors in the decision to drop out. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] www.cep-dc.org --Kevin Butler |
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