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State Graduation Exam Debate

22 States Have Mandated Exit Exams

Dec 20, 2007 Barbara Pytel

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.

Related articles: School Proficiencies Inconsistent, Citizens Vote-No Child Left Behind, US Teachers Work Harder

Read previous articles on Educational Issues.

Copyright article 2008 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.

The copyright of the article State Graduation Exam Debate in Educational Issues is owned by Barbara Pytel. Permission to republish State Graduation Exam Debate in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Does One Exam Show What Students Know? , ablestock.com Does One Exam Show What Students Know?
   
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Sep 23, 2008 12:39 PM
Guest :
This is one of the dumber movements in education.
Oct 14, 2008 11:29 PM
Guest :
Since exit exams are required to be completed to graduate, all it is going to do is add more stress to the students, cause the dropout rate to increase, and cause less to graduate. Its an unneeded project that really doesn't benefit anything. The exit exam wasn't required when I attended high school, but something similar was. It was called the Capstone project and pretty much if you took a 2nd part course elective, you had to do one. There was way less work than the exit exam but it was very similar in that you had to pick a career and do all of this stuff for it. Point being, it did nothing to help me after graduation because most aren't even going to pick a career they truly want to do, especially with the exit exam, as some you are required to meet someone within that field and if you can't find anyone then you have to settle, and the topic has to be approved. I know this project will cause dropouts because my brother did this year because of it. He told me it was too stressful and a lot of work to do on one subject. He has ADHD so it is hard for him to focus on one subject like that for 4 years and it causes stress and frustration, so he gave up and started failing all of his classes because he knew he couldn't graduate if he didn't do the project and eventually dropped out. This project is frankly not doing much to help anybody, if someone wants to research a career they're interested in, they can read about it all they want to in books and on the internet. What will it take for them to realize it doesn't help, it hurts.
Oct 17, 2008 7:44 AM
Guest :
Any exam is an indicator of what the student has learned and how well the teacher has taught the subject. If we are going to require students to pass an exit exam to graduate, then teachers must be held accountable for trends in student's test scores. If the student does not do well, he/she should graduate and analysis should be conducted to find the root cause of trends (usually they will fall to school problems or teachers) and schools should then be given the resources to fix them. Do not place four or more years of bad instruction on the sholders of students without a plan to properly educate the student after his/her failure and a plan to correct institutional problems that aided in his/her failure. We should not have to create new tests for each state when the ACT and SAT have been used for years to admit students to college. Use these tests and draw conclusions based on those test results.
May 4, 2009 11:51 AM
Guest :
I am currently a high shcool student in the state of Georgia,to me i dont see why we have to to take the exam because the state already demands that we earn 23.5 credits but if we dont pass the exam the credits are pointless.I feel that the state dosent know what goes on in each classroom and what the teachers are like and the teachers way of way teaching. Another thing that bothers me is a child can attend Faith Academy by taking the easy way out and not having to do hard work by just getting packets and turning them in at the end of the week and not thake the exam and still get accepted into a University but will still have to take a placement test, but a child who cant pass a section of the exam will still be stuck in high school..
im sorry i didnt use correct puncuation in this comment I was in the middle of class and decided to implement my thoughts.
The exam is proves nothing sombebody remove it frome the state of Georgia.....IF 22 STATES SHOULD TAKE IT THEN ALL 50 SHOULD TAKE IT
May 28, 2009 11:06 AM
Guest :
Where did you go to school? Who are your parents and how involved in your education are they? That's what decides how successful you are in school - not the teachers. Students do not learn unless they WANT to. Teachers who are held accountable for their students' scores are being penalized for where their students live, how their parents treat education, how their students view school, and what kind of lifestyle - drug, alcohol, gang, or physical/mental abusive- their home/parents are subjecting them to and forcing them to suffer through. A test does not change any of that. Some students score the best they can but others don't really try because they have a self-defeating attitude. Counseling is the best cure - or prevention - for this - Not testing.
Aug 23, 2009 6:57 AM
Guest :
does anyone know the drop out rate in public high schools due to exit exams?
Dec 11, 2009 3:31 PM
Guest :
i think that this doesnt make since i dont understand why a person needs to take an exit exam. yes i passes both of mine , math and language arts; but what about the kids you never pass , thats just wrong. its like why must you take a test for your GED thats harder than the exit exam
7 Comments
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