Oxnard District May Teach State the ABCs of Exit Exams

At a time when state officials are trying to formulate a graduation or exit exam for high school seniors, the Oxnard Union High School District may beat them to the punch.

Next month, the district will dive into an ambitious plan to write Ventura County’s first exit exam--a test with the potential to make or break a high school student’s academic career. In so doing, the district governing high schools in Oxnard and Camarillo will offer the whole state a window to the possibilities of such a test and the difficulties of creating one.

The Oxnard district is planning to administer its first exit exam to the class of 2003, whose members will enter high school this fall. The test of language arts, writing and math skills would be a requirement of graduation for all students.

By creating the exam, the Oxnard district may emerge as a pacesetter for the new governor’s education reform package, which proposes $2 million for development and adoption of such a test. Because Oxnard began exploring the concept last spring, it has a jump on Gov. Gray Davis’ exit exam, proposed earlier this month.

“We really need to assess and ensure that students exit high school with a high level of skills,” said Oxnard Union Supt. William G. Studt, whose trustees have endorsed the idea. “On the one hand, it’s nice that the governor is interested in the exit exam too. On the other hand, we have to retrench a bit to stay in line with what the state is going to do. We don’t want to get too far down the line and have the state change things on us.”

The goal, Oxnard officials say, is to make diplomas more meaningful to universities and employers and to elevate student performance in this less-than-affluent, minority-dominated school district. The trick, they add, is to create a local test that is tough yet won’t doom students to failure and won’t conflict with whatever exam state officials concoct.

Davis and Sen. Jack O’Connell, who introduced the exit exam legislation, intend to make the state exam the most stringent of its kind in the country. About half the states now have, or are planning, to have such a test, but most measure skills learned in eighth or ninth grade.

Davis and O’Connell, a Santa Barbara Democrat who represents part of Ventura County, want the state test questions to match California’s academic standards, adopted in the last 14 months, which say high school students should be able to analyze the cultural forces shaping novels and demonstrate mastery of algebra and geometry.

“We want the test to be challenging, yet fair,” O’Connell said. “This will be the Super Bowl of tests. I expect you will be able to take the test as many times as you want. You can begin in ninth grade. We want to give students the tools to pass. I expect you’ll start to see more tutorial services available through school systems, including after-school tutorials, summer school and Saturday school to assist students.”

O’Connell hopes to have his legislation on the governor’s desk by April so that test creation could begin 90 days later.

Oxnard officials are assembling a task force of educators to determine what skills their exam will measure. At a board meeting Feb. 24, administrators expect to outline for trustees their plan for crafting an exit exam. They expect their committee of administrators, teachers and counselors to formulate the test and set up a system of remediation to help students who are lagging.

Administrators acknowledge that the logistics of the test will be thorny.

“With any high-stakes change--one that has a bearing on graduation--you want to give ample notice to students, parents and teachers,” said Gary Davis, Oxnard’s assistant superintendent for educational services. “You need to make sure you have the available curriculum to meet the graduation requirement because the standard will be much higher. The standard will be considerably more than minimum proficiency.”

Among the knotty questions Oxnard administrators expect to face are:

How do you write the test? What should be the cutoff point, or threshold, for passing? Should students with learning disabilities or language barriers be given extra help? What do you do with the kids who fail--send them to summer school or other remediation programs until they can pass? Could the district be sued for not providing an adequate education if too many students fail?

“It is not going to be easy, because everyone has their own opinions about what should be on the test,” said Ventura County Schools Supt. Charles Weis. “The off-the-shelf tests don’t specifically match the curriculum in California. So this won’t be quick and easy. But that may mean it’s worth doing.”

Supt. Studt sees the test as part of a package of reforms--including an extended school year and mandatory summer school for ninth-graders who are two or more years behind in reading--to improve low performance.

“We have a different socioeconomic group of kids,” he said. “However, our approach to that is we believe every kid can learn if given the opportunity to do well. We don’t want to use [socioeconomic factors] as an excuse. We’re trying to find ways to give our kids a chance like everyone else.”

O’Connell said he hopes Sacramento officials can coordinate with Oxnard in developing the crucial test.

“If Oxnard is ahead of us, I hope we could learn from their development process,” he said. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”