Graduation test causes increase in dropout rate

Another day, another rightist gimmick in America's alleged education system is discredited.

In California, high schools throughout the state are plagued by a new exit exam. Starting with the class of 2006, students have been required to pass this statewide standardized test in order to graduate - even if they otherwise passed all their classes with flying colors. I call it a waste of time, a waste of money, and worse.

This new exam hammers in the "one size fits all" philosophy that mars America's schools. And - unless you actually think grade inflation is widespread for most students - seems to deny high schoolers the diploma they've genuinely earned. (The grade inflation "crisis" is known to be a hoax - except for some wealthy students and star athletes, in which case the grade inflation that actually does exist is ignored by the same pundits who wrongly insist it exists everywhere else. I'm also not saying every athlete gets their grades inflated, although I have witnessed it at some schools I attended.)

Just as bad, California's new graduation test has increased the rate at which students drop out of school. A new report says that in the first year that seniors were required to pass this absurd exam, the number of seniors who quit school jumped from 14,000 only 4 years earlier to 24,000. The graduation rate also fell by 4% in only a year, and it's been pointed out that an unusually high number of seniors drop out right before graduation day, which is a sure indicator of the test's effects. Opponents of the test have said all along that the test is designed to weed out students from poor areas who just don't have as much access to schools that teach effectively. The new statistics confirm this belief.

The test's supporters claim the exam is generous because it measures only ninth grade proficiency even though it's for high school graduation. I doubt this, because why else would it cause so many students to quit school when they otherwise would have graduated? If this is true, it's still bad for the school system, because it proves they don't teach.

So - even though the education system claims to educate every student - either it doesn't do so or it chooses not to recognize students' hard work. I know it's both. I did look over both the English and math portions of the test that are released online, and they both look as twistedly difficult as one might fear - and that's without 30 classmates throwing stuff and mumbling the whole time. The writing subsection looks almost impossible to pass, and it damn sure ain't ninth grade level.

I'm hoping someone sues over the exam if they're denied a diploma because of it even though they passed all their classes. Someone has to get the truth out that somewhere in the education system, the system is failing.

(Source: http://www.bakersfield.com/119/story/279564.html)