High School Students & the Exit Exam

Rikita Lawrence
English 101
Mrs. Nolthing
Nov. 28, 2011
High Schools Students & the Exit Exams Should high school seniors be required to pass a statewide exam in order to graduate? A high school graduation examination is a test that students must pass to receive a diploma and graduate from high school. These are usually criterion-reference test which were implemented as part of a comprehensive standard-based education reform program which sets in place new standards intended to increase that learning of all students. High school students should be required to pass a basic capability in reading, writing, and arithmetic. An exit exam is a uniform way to measure basic skills, without human scoring, which can sometimes be bias. Twenty-six states require high school students to pass an exit exam. No child left behind act of 2001 is considered to be one of the main causes and catalyst for the rise in exit-exams. Exit exams can be a critical for lever or incentive for encouraging students to reach higher standards. Across the nation about 42% of community college freshman enroll at least one remedial course, thus a vast majority of students are lacking the basic skills, thus America’s high schools are not preparing many of their students for the demand of both college and the modern workforce. There a number of benefits that stem from statewide exit exams the results of the exams are valuable in that they demonstrate not only which students need additional preparation but which students need additional preparation but also they demonstrate what areas of the curriculum needs improvement. The resources available and accessible today are astonishing to help prepare students. Teacher, students, and parents should all be held accountable for high school students learning the basic skills needed to pass a statewide exit exam. The exams are based on eight and tenth grade basic academic content. Many parents, educators, and critics of the exit exams argue they favor white students and suburban school districts with higher budgets than city school districts, these arguments are unfounded. In light of the need to prepare students for college and employment opportunities, I argue that statewide exams are a sound idea and should be required in order to graduate.

References: http://www.all4ed.org/files/archive/publications/remediation.pdf “Alliance for Excellent Education” http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-08-16 “Exit exams become part of high school landscape” http://www.childrenleftbehind.com/2.html “Children Left Behind”

References: http://www.all4ed.org/files/archive/publications/remediation.pdf “Alliance for Excellent Education” http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-08-16 “Exit exams become part of high school landscape” http://www.childrenleftbehind.com/2.html “Children Left Behind”