Thread: California exit exam opinion challenged

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_3804604

Exit exam opinion challenged

By Juliet Williams, Associated Press
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

OAKLAND The Attorney General's Office argued in court Tuesday that a judge's inclination to prohibit California's high school exit exam from taking effect this year should apply only to the students who filed the lawsuit, not the thousands who failed to pass.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman issued a tentative ruling on Monday siding with plaintiffs who said the exam is discriminatory because the state does not provide an equal education to all students.

During a hearing on the matter Tuesday, Freedman said he would issue his final ruling on Friday. He gave the state's lawyers time to file arguments about which students should be covered by his decision.

He is considering granting a waiver for this year's seniors, the first class required to pass the test to receive a diploma.

About 47,000 seniors have not yet passed both the English and math sections. In a typical year, about 50,000 seniors fail to graduate for various reasons.

In the East San Gabriel Valley, more than 600 seniors, or 9.5 percent, have yet to pass the California High School Exit Exam.

Depending on the school district's policy such as in Rowland Unified, Baldwin Park Unified and El Monte Union High School districts students who failed the exam won't be allowed to participate in graduation.

If the judge issues an injunction, that would be good news for Amanda Miller, a senior at West Covina High School, because it probably means she'll be allowed to march in the graduation ceremony.

Although she has all her course credits, Miller, 18, hasn't been able to pass the math section of the exam. Graduation is important to her, especially since her older brother died a few years ago before his high school graduation.

"It's a stressful thing because of this little test and missing problems you're not going to graduate," Miller said.

"I tried my hardest, but math must not be my favorite subject.

I know I tried." But if the injunction is final, schools may be handing out diplomas to seniors who failed the exam and allowing them to walk across the stage in June.

Local education officials said schools will continue to offer intervention and tutoring for the exit exam. Many of them expect the lawsuit to continue moving through the court system.

Ten high school students and their parents filed the lawsuit in February against the state Department of Education and school Superintendent Jack O'Connell, claiming the exam was illegal and discriminates against poor students and those who are learning English. They sought a court injunction to delay the consequences for students this year.

Local school officials agreed the exam can be unfair to special education students andEnglish learners.

The state should make provisions for those students, officials said.

Nick Salerno, assistant superintendent in El Monte Union High School District, said the high schools receive a lot of immigrants still learning English.

"If you gave me a test in Spanish or French or Russian, I may know the material. But if I don't know the language, I'm not going to be successful," he said.

However, educators also said the exam is an important measure of accountability.

"It has caught the attention of students that a diploma is more than passing classes," said Anthony Santorufo, assistant superintendent of Rowland Unified. "It also provides a common denominator of performance for all students in California to earn a diploma."

Stella Port, director of research and program evaluation in Covina-Valley Unified, said not every student tests well.

"Some students can't show exactly what they know through a multiple-choice test. There are multiple ways of showing knowledge," Port said. "But in general, the CAHSEE is a good policy to have."

On Tuesday, attorneys for four of the students requested they be withdrawn from the lawsuit because they have since passed the math portion of the exam. The judge took that request under advisement.

The remaining six students are classified as English-learners.

The judge said he based his tentative decision on the plaintiffs' argument that all California students do not have access to the same quality of education.

He said the harm to students who do not receive their diplomas is serious. Meanwhile, the effect on the state is negligible if it is required to grant diplomas to all students who otherwise meet the requirements this year, he said.

"We have a serious problem in the state of California with respect to the distribution of our teachers...

We have a severe shortage of credentialed teachers, especially in minority communities and in low-income communities," said Arturo Gonzalez, the lead plaintiff attorney. Because of that, Gonzalez argued, his clients and other students who have failed the test did not have equal opportunity and were not taught the material on the exit exam.

After Freedman issued his tentative ruling on Monday, O'Connell said he would appeal any ruling blocking the exam's implementation.

He called the test "a cornerstone of California's school accountability system."

O'Connell wrote the 1999 legislation that enacted the test. Last week, the Department of Education said about 11 percent of this year's senior class has yet to pass the English and math sections, although students have multiple opportunities to take the exam.

Failing students can take another year of high school, get extra tutoring, enroll in summer school or attend community college until they pass, he said.

Nationwide, 23 states have graduation exams, while four others are phasing them in by 2012, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Education Policy.

Most states also offer options for students with special needs and those who are learning English, center president Jack Jennings said.

Staff writer Esther Chou contributed to this story.

California high school students can not pass the exit exam because they do not know English and Math, we have basically dumbed down the country as a whole. I can connect with these students my last year of High School the school required me take three classes of English, or I would not have received my High School Diploma.
Today we have illegal alien Students in California protesting the exit exam. I’m sorry but I have no pity for them, they need to learn the language of this land to get a diploma. I’m sure the weak PC representatives of this state will just fold into their demands and give them what ever they ask. Thus the DUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA is happening now.

Originally Posted by sd_hog

California high school students can not pass the exit exam because they do not know English and Math, we have basically dumbed down the country as a whole. I can connect with these students my last year of High School the school required me take three classes of English, or I would not have received my High School Diploma.
Today we have illegal alien Students in California protesting the exit exam. I’m sorry but I have no pity for them, they need to learn the language of this land to get a diploma. I’m sure the weak PC representatives of this state will just fold into their demands and give them what ever they ask. Thus the DUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA is happening now.

ITA, it is a disgrace that we as Americans are having to suffer and got through this mess for a bunch of ppl that don't even belong here in the first place!

Bush does not care, he knows he can't run for office any more, so what the heck !

Some of the schools in my area have reached 70 - 80% Hispanic, Students in these schools have GPA's far below average. So low that some schools are facing closure. To resolve this problem, elementary schools are redistributing students to other schools outside of their own districts to raise the average GPA per student.

This "integration" of below average, non-English speaking students has caused academic requirements to be modified (A.K.A. reduced) lowering the education standards of American children at the American taxpayer's expense. In return, the average American child attending first grade is now able to count to10 in Spanish.

The Exit exam was introduced a few years ago...right about the same time large numbers of immigrants began flooding into the country.
I suspect the Exit exam is actually intended for immigrants, if their children have good educations, they are no longer "cheap labor" - solution: Filter them out with a test.

That may sound like a low thing for them to do, but at this point....

Tis Saturday morn in the humble shanty on the blizzard-swept tornado-plains of the cultural backwater of Nebraska whose total state population of around 1,700,000 souls (and who knows how many invaders) is less than that of but one city in many states.

The radio news just proclaimed a California judge has sided with those wanting the high school exit exam nullified.

Those failing will still receive a diploma.

Just one step to altering the USA into a country more akin to what we see below our southern border.

Witness how the elite classes of the south have so much wealth, so much power, how little power their commoners have.

Surely America's elite class and corporations would revel in the USA becoming more akin to a 2nd-world country!!!!!

Don't intend to sound so repetitive but after years of observing, researching the invasion I am utterly and completely convinced that the many people, groups, organizations possessing wealth and power in the USA actually want a dumbed-down America so as to enrich themselves and add to their power.

Yeah..... I will say it again, patriots.

I am convinced we are engaged in class warfare in the USA.

Quote: "I am convinced we are engaged in class warfare in the USA."

Before the Internet existed for us, I hosted a VBBS board. I argued that Class warfare existed then. I have come to realize that that it has always existed. Class warfare will not end until humanity ceases to exist.

Letting these kids graduate with a diploma when they can't even pass 8th grade math and10th grade English is doing such a disservice to the very people these politicians are trying to protect.
Those kids are going to go out into the world and not understand why they can't do any better in the job market other than working at Burger King.

Citing that the English portion of the test discriminates against kids who don't speak English is like saying that if you fail the DMV driving exam that you were discriminated against because you can't drive! Tests results are supposed to provide information so you know where you need to improve. Instead these people don't like the results of the test so they just get rid of the test!

It's insane.

There is one flaw underlying all education reform. If you read articles on this topic they will always talk about what the system is not doing for the students. Student accountability is always missing. That is what the exit exam is trying to address.

The lawsuits around the exit exam use the same problematic logic. Some communities do poorer than others. The assumption is that it is because they are "underserved". The idea that some communities are intrisically more education oriented is dismissed as racist. Actually it is a comment on culture.

Ask teachers. ON THE WHOLE, asians from North East Asia are the most ambitious students. Latinos are not very aggressive students. Getting pregnant during high school is completely shameful in Asian communities. It is expected in Latino culture. These factors affect success.

When you look at all the special programs there for language learners, Latinos are better served than other cultural groups. It is unrealistic, though, to think that moving to a country where you and your children do not speak the language will not impact your children's education. Beyond that it is rude to enter another country illegally and then sue for your not getting your needs met.

All cultures are not the same, diversity exists and this has an impact.

John Press
www.pressJohn.com