[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Thread Index]

Re: CA legislation for multiple measures for HS graduation

"Calls" to have elected and appointed officials take state achievement tests are silly, irrelevant, and disrespectful to the voters, so, if your goal is to waste everybody's time, by all means revive them.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>
To: ca-resisters@interversity.org
Cc: arn-l@interversity.org
Sent: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 5:29 am
Subject: [arn-l] CA legislation for multiple measures for HS graduation


Isn't it time to revive the call for O'Connell, Schwarzenegger, and
all members of his appointed State Bd of Ed to pass the test themselves?


From: "Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>





I am pleased to see that teachers, civil rights groups, legislators
and others continue to fight for rational approaches to replace the
one-size-fits-few high stakes standardized graduation test. A bill
has passed the CA House (not by enough to override the Terminator).
It is also true that so long as CA (and others states) do not
provide all children with a decent education (as well as ensure
access to health care, etc.), no hard and fast measure will be fair.
I wonder if the business person who opposes using multiple measures
has rallied business groups to raise the tax money, including by
taxing businesses, to address the unment educational and social
needs (do I really need to ask)?

Monty

Legislature revisits exit test

Some critics balk at the requirement, and a bill proposes other
assessments.

By Jim Sanders - Bee Capitol Bureau

Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, August 26, 2007

Nearly nine years after California opted to create a high school
exit exam, some of the state's most powerful education groups are
continuing to fight a requirement that students be denied a diploma
if they flunk it.



The California Teachers Association, the California School Boards
Association and the California Federation of Teachers, among others,
are backing legislation to allow student proficiency to be measured
in other ways as well.



"This bill really is about a higher and richer standard," said
Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, a Santa Monica Democrat who said her
Assembly Bill 1379 is designed to complement the exit exam -- not
eliminate it.



"In any debate you get into in the educational arena,
one-size-fits-all never works," Brownley said.



Democratic legislators thus far have given thumbs up to easing the
state's diploma requirement, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed
similar legislation in 2005. His Department of Finance opposes
Brownley's recent AB 1379.



This year's legislative fight signals that the issue is far from
dead, particularly if a Democrat succeeds Schwarzenegger in 2010.



AB 1379 was approved by the Assembly, 47-31, and is pending in the
Senate.



California's exit exam is designed to ensure that all high school
graduates have a basic level of academic skill.



The test requires 12th-graders to be proficient in mathematics
coursework up to the ninth-grade level, and English and language
arts coursework up to the 10th-grade level. Students can pass with
scores of 55 percent and 60 percent, respectively.



In the class of 2006, the first threatened with denial of diplomas,
91.2 percent of high school seniors passed the test by May of their
senior year.



Their successors scored slightly higher: 93.3 percent of seniors in
the class of 2007 met the requirement on time, state Superintendent
of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced Thursday.



Students can take the test up to six times. Those who don't receive
a diploma with their graduating class conceivably could earn it
later through remedial studies, adult school or other options.



Exit exam results consistently have shown racial and economic
disparities, with low-income, Latino and African American students
scoring lower than white or Asian students.



Not all students necessarily receive equal learning opportunities
with qualified teachers and adequate support systems, so it's unfair
to use a single test to deny diplomas, said Liz Guillen of Public
Advocates, a civil rights law firm.



"I think there's been somewhat of a backlash that one test can be
the sole indicator of a person's knowledge or qualification," Guillen
said.



Brownley's bill would lay the groundwork for using multiple measures
of proficiency by requiring O'Connell to develop alternatives to the
exit exam in a series of public hearings.



Under AB 1379, O'Connell would be required to consult with
Schwarzenegger's education secretary, among others, and to submit
recommendations to lawmakers by October 2008.



The bill would not immediately alter the requirement that students
pass the exit exam, but it declares legislative intent that "no
single measure be used as the only determinant of eligibility."



Brownley's bill says other measurements of competency could include
academic transcripts, completion of projects, coursework portfolios,
and alternative tests that are aligned to state content standards
and as rigorous as the exit exam.



Students would not have the option of skipping the exit exam, but
for those who can't pass it, AB 1379 hopes to create a safety net.



Critics claim that sole reliance on the exit exam can doom students
who suffer from extreme test anxiety or are from immigrant families
who don't speak English well.



Rick Pratt, assistant executive director of the California School
Boards Association, said dependence upon one test can narrow
coursework.



"When you have a high school exam that focuses basically on two
areas, reading and math, that's where the curriculum focus is going
to be," Pratt said.



Dean Vogel, CTA vice president, said teachers simply want lawmakers
to keep an open mind.



"Doesn't it seem reasonable that we ought to at least investigate
another way to assess these students?" Vogel said.



Twenty-five states require students to take a high school exit exam,
but only eight use it as the sole criterion for awarding diplomas,
according to a 2005 Stanford University report.



"We believe that standards need to be high, and we believe that
expectations need to be high," Vogel said. "Because of that, we
should at least be making every effort to assess our students in a
meaningful and relevant way."



But Jim Lanich of California Business for Education Excellence said
the state should focus its efforts on helping all students pass the
exit exam -- not on creating loopholes.



"We need to shift from can't into can -- and how," Lanich said.



Requiring passage of the exit exam creates an objective benchmark
for measuring students, comparing districts, holding schools
accountable and ensuring that all teenagers have basic skills to
work in a global economy, supporters say.



Hilary McLean, O'Connell's spokeswoman, said the exit exam was
developed because subjective ways of measuring proficiency, such as
grades, were resulting in teenagers receiving diplomas even if they
couldn't read or do basic math.



The exit exam is "our best tool for ensuring that students have
mastered critical skills," McLean said.



Schwarzenegger, in vetoing 2005 legislation, said it "sends the
wrong message" to allow alternative assessments.



"We have a responsibility to each of our students to believe in
them, and not to have low expectations," his veto message said.





------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------



Go to: Sacbee / Back to story



Monty Neill, Ed.D.

Co-Executive Director

FairTest

342 Broadway

Cambridge, MA 02139

617-864-4810 fax 617-497-2224

monty@fairtest.org

http://www.fairtest.org

Donate: https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk


-------------------------------------------------------

Unsubscribe ARN-L:

http://interversity.org/lists/arn-l/subscribe.html






________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com

Post a Message to arn-l:

Your name:

Your email address: (use the exact address you are subscribed with)

Subject line:

Message: