State Board votes down Exit Exam options

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Education board votes down exit exam alternatives
By Juliet Williams -- Associated Press
Published Wednesday, March 8, 2006
http://www.sacbee.com/content/breakingnews/story/14227476p-15051200c.html

The state board of education on Wednesday voted against offering 
alternative assessments for students who fail to pass California's high 
school exit exam.

The unanimous decision means that potentially tens of thousands of high 
school seniors who have been unable to pass the two-part test will not be 
allowed to graduate with their classmates. This year's senior class is the 
first required to pass the exit exam.

The 1999 law establishing the test said the Department of Education needed 
to study alternatives for students who were deemed "highly proficient" but 
still were unable to pass.

Board of education member Donald Fisher argued against other assessments, 
saying the English and math portions of the test measure basic skills that 
all potential high school graduates should possess.

"The test is very simple," he said. "I would be surprised if they could be 
'highly proficient' and not be able to pass this test."

The Legislature would have had to approve an alternative if the board had 
recommended one.

At the start of this school year, about 100,000 seniors had not passed at 
least one of the sections - more than one-fifth of the state's roughly 
450,000 high school seniors. State officials have said they do not have 
updated figures, although they say the number is much lower now because 
students have had several chances to take the exam this school year.

One group of students already has filed a lawsuit claiming the exam is 
illegal and discriminatory. The students are seeking a court injunction to 
delay the consequences of the exam for the Class of 2006 ? an exemption 
already won by special education students.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O?Connell recommended the board 
keep the exit exam as the sole measurement of whether students should earn 
diplomas.

He said students who fail it can get extra tutoring, take another year of 
high school or move on to community college and take the test again later.

State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, spoke to the board Wednesday and 
criticized the department of education and the board for failing to fully 
study alternatives until the last minute. She said state education 
officials had five years to investigate other assessments but waited until 
late last year to begin the process.

She also said those meetings were not open to the public.

"The public has not had an opportunity to review this," she said before the 
board?s vote. "Give us an opportunity to study the issue, to participate."

The board?s vote was 10-0, with one abstention.

Starting in 10th grade, students have multiple opportunities to take the 
two sections of the test, which measures 10th-grade English and 
eighth-grade math skills. Some schools are offering the test as late as May.

Nearly half the states have a similar graduation requirement, but most 
offer alternatives for students who can't pass.



George Sheridan