Join the conversation

When it comes to high stakes testing, of any kind, its purpose should always be questioned. What is the value-add of a high school exit exam? Should it test students’ basic skills? College and career readiness? Do today’s tests do either?  

A few weeks ago, a school board member in Florida took a version of the state’s 10^th grade high school test, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Students must pass this test to graduate, and they have five opportunities to do so. The school board member averaged a D on the reading section, noting that: “In our system, that would get me a mandatory assignment to a double block of reading instruction.” This individual has two masters’ degrees and a successful professional career. He admits that while the material tested wasn’t fresh in his mind, he also didn’t use it in his work, thereby making him wonder how relevant it really was for the average student’s success after leaving school.

Others across the country are wondering the same thing. A decreasing emphasis on high school exit exams suggests that states are reassessing the value of those exams in the era of twenty-first century skills and college and career readiness standards, which is encouraging, at a time when testing seems to be the policy-making rage. A recent Center for Education Policy (CEP) report, State High School Tests: Changes in State Policies and the Impact of College and Career Readiness Movement, observed that the percentage of high school students required to take an exit exam decreased from 74% in 2010-2009 to 65% in 2010-2011, and that three states (Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee) eliminated them this past year. A majority of states still mandate students to pass exit exams to earn a diploma, and there is value in that requirement to demonstrate basic core academic competencies. There is no excuse for a high school graduate who cannot read. Every child should be college and career ready upon graduating from high school. 

Consistent testing throughout a student’s educational experience should, at the very least, be a mechanism that triggers effective interventions when needed to achieve their academic success. How can we ensure that standardized tests accomplish those goals? As with many questions concerning standardization, there is an automatic deference to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as a possible (and more rigorous) approach to guide the revision of current tests, inform the development of new ones, or take the place of old ones entirely.

According to the CEP, 27 states participating in CCSS have exit exams and at least 16 of those expect to replace their state assessments with consortia assessments. If this effort is pursued deliberately and sensibly, students may see an exit exam where they must demonstrate both basic skills and their level of college and career readiness to earn their diploma. These exams may even look similar from state to state ensuring students are on more equal footing with each other nationally. Every child should graduate from high school prepared to enter college or the workplace with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed and that should remain the priority as states make changes in testing and graduation requirements.