Tests

Tests What is at Stake' When students graduate from high school, the public expects that each student will possess the skills to be successful at either work or secondary education. We know however, that not all students meet this expectation. A 2000 report from the Employment Policy Forum reported, “that is many as 70% of students entering the workforce do not have simple writing skills” (Workforce Preparation 1). In an effort to improve student achievement, (State Law 2, statutes of 1999), authorized the development of the California High School Exit Exam (CHSEE). Seniors in the class of 2004 will be the first California public school students who must pass the CHSEE in order to receive their high school diploma (Rubin, par. 5) Advocates say exit exams will motivate students and teachers to reach higher standards, therefore improving student achievement. Critics contend, however, that exit exams have no educational value and do not answer the question of how to best measure student learning. Furthermore, they argue that these high stakes tests will lead to higher dropout rates and do not ensure that students have an opportunity to learn the material being tested (Hicks 1-2). Graduation decisions should students, test, exit, school, exams, high, student, education, tests, qtd, exam, testing, standardized, skills, pass, california, state, stakes, should, said, rates, lead, know, higher, graduation, dropout, critics, chsee, based, workforce, wolinsky, teachers, states, single, schools