Keep Exit Exam, but Delay It

As a member of the state Senate in 1999, I authored the legislation that created the California High School Exit Exam, a new graduation requirement set to go into effect for next year’s seniors. Now, as state superintendent of public instruction, I will recommend Wednesday that the state Board of Education vote to postpone the requirement until the class of 2006.

Here’s why: I believe now, as I did when I was in the Senate, that the exam is the best way to guarantee that the state is providing an adequate education to our children, to assure students, colleges and businesses that a California high school diploma stands for something. But I also believe we have to adequately prepare our students to take the test.

When we first administered the exam to the class of 2004 (students must take the test starting their sophomore year), we found fewer students passing than we had anticipated. In fact, the first time they took the test, only 64% of the class of 2004 passed the English language arts section, which tests such things as vocabulary, information-reading ability and writing skills. In math, which sets standards for understanding geometry, algebra, statistics and more, only 44% of the students passed. That’s a passage rate simply too low to be acceptable.

As a result, detractors have urged us to abandon the test. It is my strong belief, however, that the test results only prove the necessity for such an exam. If our students are not passing, we shouldn’t water down their education by removing the requirement. We have an obligation to work with the schools to raise achievement.

And we owe this to all students, not just some. There are those who say the test shouldn’t be required for students who are learning-disabled, struggling to acquire English or are faced with difficult economic circumstances. There is no question that some students must overcome greater obstacles than others in pursuit of education, but it would be exacerbating the problem if we expected less from and delivered less to these students.

However, when we originally passed the legislation, we also recognized there was a legitimate concern about whether or not we had given students enough time to meet the expectations of this test. As a result, we sought an outside evaluation of the exit exam, and in May the independent Human Resources Research Organization produced a report that contained several important findings. First, it verified that the exam was legitimate to use as a graduation requirement, based on California standards. The analysis also confirmed that the existence of the test had led to “dramatically increased” teaching of those standards. The test was being taken seriously and, as a result, more students were meeting our requirements.

But the report also found that many students who would be the first affected by the test -- especially in the class of 2004 -- were not adequately prepared. They simply haven’t been taught all of the material that is being tested. The report went on to say, however, that this situation would improve with each passing year as more students were fully immersed in our standards and aligned materials. And our passing rates bear this out. In fact, the first time the class of 2005 took the test, 79% passed the English language arts section and 60% the math. A marked improvement in just one year.

So what makes sense to me is to step back and briefly delay the consequences of the law, but at the same time to keep the momentum moving forward. We need to use the next two years to work with our struggling schools and students -- to redouble our efforts to offer additional resources, to reexamine our funding mechanism and make sure we are providing the best resources for students at risk of failing this exam, and to give schools adequate time to align their materials to our standards.

Given the impressive gain from the class of 2004 to 2005, I firmly believe the class of 2006 will be adequately prepared. This exam is in place to guarantee all of our children a complete education and an opportunity to reach their dreams. They deserve no less.