Re: Students take Exit Exam concerns to Capitol

[Erwin Morton <erwin@morton.net>]

The town hall meeting described in
the article is viewable online.  Go to
http://www.calchannel.com/search.htm,
enter the date "120706", and click "Submit".

Two programs come up, but they appear
to be identical.  That's a bit strange -- I've
never before seen an "Assembly Hearing"
without any Assemblymembers -- but it does
match what the SacBee article describes.

--Erwin



George Sheridan wrote:
> Students take exam angst to Capitol
> ===================================
>
>
> By Peter Hecht - Bee Capitol Bureau
>
> Published Friday, December 8, 2006
> Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A4
> http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/89459.html
>
>
> Luciana Reyes, 17, stood up in the audience at a unique Capitol 
> hearing on the
> California High School Exit Exam with tears in her eyes and her voice 
> bursting
> with anguish.
>
> "It's hard for people like me," she began, instantly fighting back 
> sobs. "It's
> every parent's dream for us to pass the exit exam. But it's hard. Why 
> can't
> students who work very hard at school and get good grades, why can't 
> they pass on
> that?"
>
> On Thursday, the senior from Hiram Johnson High School was directly 
> questioning
> education officials and state policymakers on the required exit exam 
> that is now
> the curse of her academic existence.
>
> It was a particularly spirited session of the LegiSchool Project. The 
> program,
> part of a series sponsored by the Legislature and California State 
> University,
> Sacramento, brings high school students to the Capitol to take on 
> politicians and
> policymakers on burning issues of the day.
>
> Students from seven California secondary schools, including 
> Sacramento-area Hiram
> Johnson, McClatchy and Galt high schools, packed a Capitol hearing 
> room for an
> intense town hall-style meeting.
>
> With thousands of other students throughout California viewing the 
> meeting on
> cable television, they debated the importance of the exit exam and 
> dilemmas faced
> by 38,000 students from the 2006 class who failed to graduate because they
> couldn't pass the exam.
>
> Now that is Reyes' fear. The daughter of an American Indian mother and 
> a Mexican
> immigrant father who speaks little English, she says she has managed 
> to get
> mostly A's and B's in a Law and Criminal Justice Academy program at Hiram
> Johnson.
>
> She wants to be a police officer. But suddenly Reyes sees her dreams 
> slipping
> away. She has passed the English portion of the exit exam, but has 
> come up short
> in math.
>
> "I have to stress a lot," said Reyes, who will take the exit exam again in
> February. "I have a senior project to do. Now I have to stress about 
> two things."
>
> The panel Reyes was speaking to included Lily Roberts, the state Education
> Department's manager for the high school exit exam, and Marisol Avina, a
> consultant to the Assembly Education Committee.
>
> Roberts had just finished saying how "proud" she was that 90 percent 
> of state
> high school students had passed the exit exam -- a competency test in 
> reading,
> writing and math -- in 2006, the first year it was required.
>
> Now she was hearing the other side of the story.
>
> Responding to comments from some students that the exam puts an unfair 
> burden on
> students with learning disabilities or others for whom English is a second
> language, Roberts said the Education Department has included $70 
> million in its
> current year budget for "intensive intervention" to help them pass the 
> test.
>
> "We want to close the achievement gap," she said.
>
> Kangzoua Khang, 17, a senior at McClatchy High School, says she is 
> trying to do
> the same thing. Khang passed the test -- on her second try. But two older
> brothers failed. They all grew up speaking a Hmong dialect with no written
> language.
>
> Now Khang is volunteering by teaching fellow Hmong students to read 
> and write.
> But she told panelists they should get rid of the exam requirement 
> because it
> disproportionately singles out people from other cultures.
>
> "I'm pretty sure there are hundreds of slow learners throughout 
> California,"
> Khang said. "There might be a language barrier. For me, English is a 
> second
> language. It takes me more time to study."
>
> Cyndi Swindle, a panelist at the hearing and an assistant principal at 
> Hiram
> Johnson, said the challenge of passing the exam is greater for many 
> students --
> but worth the effort.
>
> Swindle, who works with students with learning problems, said she had 
> a learning
> disability as a child but went on to earn a master's degree.
>
> "I used to have to sit in college and read every chapter four times," 
> she said.
> "That's why I'm (working) in special ed.
>
> "This year, I had several students with learning disabilities passing" 
> the exit
> exam. "It gives me great hope."
>
>
> About the writer:
>
> The Bee's Peter Hecht can be reached at (916) 326-5539 or 
> phecht@sacbee.com.
>
>
> Comments
>
> There are 37 comments posted so far. Below is a sampling of the latest 
> comments.
>
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>
> *
>
> cmub at 5:20 AM PST Friday, December 8, 2006 wrote:
>
>
>
> We must ask ourselves whether it is better to eliminate the test and lower
> the educational standard ... more
>
> *
>
> anubis1911 at 7:28 AM PST Friday, December 8, 2006 wrote:
>
>
>
> We have a love affair of standardized exams and a whole population of 
> people
> who have good understan... more
>
> *
>
> netguru at 8:07 AM PST Friday, December 8, 2006 wrote:
>
>
>
> I believe letting these kids off without passing the exam will only
> contribute to the "dumbing down"... more
>
> George Sheridan
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