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High School Exit Exam
"I'm sorry Mrs. Smith, but your child did not pass the high school exit exam, and I am afraid that he will have to repeat the 12th grade," explains the sympathetic school counselor. "But I don't understand- he did his work and cooperated in class, how could he fail the 12th grade?" You know Mrs. Smith, I was wondering the same thing. There is a new policy in our California high school district, which requires high school students to take an exit exam. This exam will determine whether students graduate after their senior year. I feel that the only thing this exam proves is how well students take tests. Test taking is definitely an important skill, but it shouldn't be the one that decides if students graduate or not! Some kids just simply cannot take a good test if their lives depend on it. I am a good example of one of those kids. It doesn't mean that I am a bad student or not living up to my grade level requirements, I just don't have good test taking abilities. And I'm not the only one. Many kids struggle with tests and it isn't their fault, they just never learned how.
You may argue that if the students can't take a test in high school, how will they survive in college?
Well, college isn't all about taking tests. If you know the curriculum and put in a lot of effort, you'll succeed, not only in college, but also in life. You might also argue that some of the kids who failed the exit exam really don't deserve to graduate. Well, don't the teachers know their students well enough to make that decision? I think so. Instead of putting loads of money into the exit exam, why don't our schools put that money into something more productive? They could begin a program that will teach students how to take better tests, or use it to hire more skilled teachers. These exit exams are becoming more and more common around our country. I hope that you will seriously think about what is happening in my district and make sure that it doesn't happen in yours. It could change somebody's life. Article provided by 
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