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¶ … California-wide high school exit examination show that most students are ill-prepared to graduate. The test was implemented by Governor Davis as an attempt to improve public school accountability. Although the test is slated to come into effect officially for the graduating class of 2004, students statewide have taken the test on a voluntary basis since their freshman year. Less than half of all students statewide could pass both the English and math portions of the test. Because performance levels were so poor, state school board officials wonder whether or not they should postpone the implementation of the exams. However, rather than postpone implementing the test, the school board plans to introduce new after school and weekend programs to prepare students for the material.
Critics of the exit examination point to the wide differentiation in scores between rich and poor and also among different racial groups. For example, over the past two years,...
However, less than one-third of African-Americans and Latinos have passed both sections. Civil rights groups are up in arms about the exams and are questioning the test's legality and ethical fairness. One public advocacy attorney in San Francisco is filing a lawsuit against the state, accusing the state government of under-funding schools in poor neighborhoods. The quality of facilities, teachers, and textbooks in poor school districts is lower than that in wealthier districts, according to such advocacy groups. This substandard quality of secondary education directly leads to the gap between rich and poor in the exit examination test results.
In the Oak Park Unified School District, which serves a wealthy pocket of Ventura County, a full ninety-eight percent of all students passed the English portion and ninety-one percent passed…
In the Oak Park Unified School District, which serves a wealthy pocket of Ventura County, a full ninety-eight percent of all students passed the English portion and ninety-one percent passed the math test. However, in lower income Oxnard, only fifty-eight percent of students passed the English portion and thirty-five passed the math section. In the large and diverse Los Angeles Unified School District, only fifty-five percent of students passed the English section and a mere twenty-one percent passed the math portion.
The exam results demand a reexamination of California school systems. Resource allocation is the main issue on the drawing table, as the initial test results show such a massive gap between rich and poor schools and students. Schools in large urban areas tend to have oversized classes, shorter school years, and other restrictions to optimal learning conditions. These issues are probably adversely impacting the preparedness of students. To correct for this, the Los Angeles Unified School District has already implemented a literacy program. The LA Unified district, which is extremely diverse in terms of demographics, will also soon offer a new course specifically tailored for the exit examinations. Plans are in place for offering the course after school and on weekends. Moreover, the district may offer a "thirteenth year," or an extra year with which to complete high school.
The stated goal of the school board is to have a full ninety percent of all high school seniors passing the exam. As only forty-eight percent of juniors slated to take the exam officially in their senior year in 2004 passed, many educators are worried about the consequences of having less than half of California high school students graduating. The test material is comprised of sixth to tenth grade-level material. As the preliminary test results show, many students are not even capable of meeting tenth-grade academic standards. Most officials agree that the test is necessary to encourage school accountability, but also believe it unacceptable to have less than half of all students receiving a diploma.