Thursday, July 17, 2003
By Loni Hancock
IN 1999, our state created, for the first time in the history of California's public education system, a single high-stakes test that all students must pass in order to receive a high school diploma -- the California High School Exit Exam.
Four years later, an estimated 80,000 students -- 20 percent of the class of 2004 -- would not be able to graduate next year because they have failed to pass both the English-language arts and math sections of the test.
The high school exit exam was a well-intentioned policy. It is clear, however, that unintended consequences must force policymakers to carefully reexamine the fairness and appropriateness of the test.
An independent study contracted by the Department of Education questions whether all students in the Class of 2004 had a reasonable opportunity to learn the material on the exam.
Their general findings note that instruction was not aligned with content standards when the class of 2004 was in middle school. In addition, the state did not adopt the algebra requirement until after the current juniors were already in high school.
The exit exam is a key ingredient in California's recipe for accountability, a system nationally recognized as among the toughest and best in the country. While we applaud our incredibly high academic standards, we must also realize our mediocre level of education funding may not be able to match such ambitious goals.
California ranks in the bottom half of the nation in K-12 per pupil spending. Our state faces an unprecedented $38 billion budget deficit with painful cuts to education. Clearly, we should be investing more in our children's education.
On July 9, the State Board of Education voted unanimously to postpone the state's high school exit exam. Now, next year's sophomores will be the first group of students who must pass the test in order to graduate.
My bill, AB 356, introduced in February, which passed out of the Senate Education Committee on July 3, also calls for a two-year delay. In addition, it requires the Board to examine alternate assessment criteria to the exit exam, and make recommendations to the Legislature.
If we simply continue to offer the exam, we will only find ourselves in a similar situation two years from now. Wishful thinking will not increase passage rates.
Many breathed a sigh of relief after the Board's decision, but this delay should not slow down the positive momentum created by the test. On the contrary, we must work even harder to give all young people an equal opportunity to learn.
Until we provide students with standards-aligned curriculum, adequate textbooks, credentialed teachers, and a safe, healthy learning environment, we cannot hold them accountable. We must hold ourselves accountable first. We must fully fund education so that all of our young people will be given the necessary tools to successfully pass the test.
We cannot raise the bar in California classrooms and expect students to jump higher without our help.
Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, is a California State Assemblywoman.