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State Graduation Exam Debate

22 States Have Mandated Exit Exams

Dec 20, 2007

Does One Exam Show What Students Know? , ablestock.com

Is the basis for exit exams political or educational?

Exit Exams Sounded Good

No Child Left Behind is demanding accountability. Who would be against students being accountable for the diploma they receive on graduation day? Who would be against schools being accountable for teaching students what they need to know? Well, not many until you study how things really work in schools.

Taking a tough stand while pounding on a podium in the presence of other legislators does not make learning disabilities and learning styles disappear. Mandating accountability does not find homeless children a home, does not make drive by shootings disappear, does not make dads appear in a single parent home and it doesn’t improve language skills for ESL students (English as a Second Language).

Learning Styles

Terri Sessoms from the International Center for Leadership in Education states that past generations were mostly auditory learners. Teachers lectured, students took notes, they memorized the information, gave it back, and learning occurred. Sessoms notes that the military has recently tested recruits on how they learn best. Lecture is no longer the effective way to teach. Students in our schools today are not auditory learners—they are visual learners.

One can discuss why the shift occurred until pigs fly and blame can be assigned in many directions. It could be that more television or more technology has caused the change, but the facts are that the shift has occurred and goal is to teach children.

Three Basic Modalities

While there are multiple intelligences, learning styles are condensed into three areas.

Auditory Learners -- learn by hearing.
Visual Learners -- learn by seeing.
Kinesthetic Learners -- learn by doing.

Teachers take these learning styles into account when teaching new concepts. Students may watch a presentation (visual), take notes as teacher instructs (auditory) and complete a project based on the same information (kinesthetic).

Multiple Assessments

Schools test for knowledge using multiple assessments. For example, a Science Fair Project shows the teacher more than a standardized test. A Science Fair Project requires

Research
Writing
Citing
Oral presentation
Constructing a science board
Forming a hypothesis
Public speaking skills
Defending data
Organizing
Sequencing
Forming an opinion

In the real world, which skill is more important? Being able to organize and complete a project or take a fill-in-the-dot test?

State Exams

Exit exams are now required in 22 states. Washington state is delaying the requirement. Utah has dropped it. The ACLU has spoken up against the tests. [Liz Bowie, baltimoresun.com, October 8, 2007] The standardized exit exams that many states are adopting favor the left-brained students. These students tend to learn by lecture, memorize easier, and don’t become confused with the answer choices. Right-brained students don't do as well on these tests in spite of knowing the topic. They see every answer as a possibility under the right conditions. In spite of knowing the information, they are likely to select an incorrect answer.

While demanding exit exams may sound good initially, these exams do not truly reflect the knowledge students hold. The exams don’t prepare the students for the real world where they are allowed to use manuals, ask questions, and are not allowed to perform at the 50% percentile.

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