"Doing it right"

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Editorial: Do exit exam right
Sacramento schools show the way

Published Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Story appeared in Editorials section, Page B6
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/14267173p-15078934c.html

With graduation ceremonies in full swing, now is a good time to look at 
what schools are doing about students who have not passed the exit exam. 
The Sacramento City Unified School District is doing the right thing -- and 
should be a model for others.

Superintendent Maggie Mejia and a majority on the school board made it 
clear they were not interested in a "second-class diploma," giving students 
who do not pass the exit exam a "certificate of completion." Instead, they 
decided to focus on ways to ensure that all seniors get a real diploma.

In the Class of 2006, roughly 100 of the 2,400 students did not pass the 
exit exam. This is a small percentage, due in part to the district devising 
an individualized plan for each student. McClatchy High School had 30 
seniors not passing, followed by Burbank with 26, Hiram Johnson with 16 and 
Kennedy with seven. At West Campus, all seniors passed. The new small high 
schools have done very well, with only one senior not passing at New Tech 
High. Genesis, a small school for struggling students, had six seniors not 
passing. With May test results coming soon, more students will pass and 
have a graduation ceremony in the fall.

Sacramento Unified has sent a letter to each parent offering students an 
August class to prepare for a fall retest. The letter also outlines other 
options for getting a diploma: remaining in school as a fifth-year senior, 
enrolling in Fremont Adult School's "high school diploma program" or 
enrolling in a general education program leading to a GED certificate.

For the Class of 2007, the school district is partnering with Sacramento 
ACT to provide mentors and do home visits with 11th-graders.

Most important, the district is targeting eighth-graders who have tested 
"below basic" on the California Standards Test. Without extra help now, 
those students are not likely to pass the exit exam on their first try in 
10th grade. The district is offering a summer "Bridge Program" for these 
students.

In Sacramento, one-third of the students not passing in the Class of 2006 
are English learners, many who have arrived in this country recently. 
Students coming from, say, Mexico, Russia or Laos as juniors may get credit 
for their courses that are like ours, but may need accelerated English 
intervention and a three-year plan. Other English learners who have had 
only intermittent education may need additional classes.

This is exactly what schools should be doing. In the past, without the exit 
exam, these students would have fallen through the cracks, sent out into 
the world without the skills they need to succeed. With the exit exam, that 
is changing -- for the better.


George Sheridan
4467 Meadowbrook Road
Garden Valley, California 95633

(530) 333 4506


Hope is ... not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the
certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

                                                Vaclav Havel

Are standardized tests hurting our kids? Go to www.fairtest.org