Students should not have to pass a basic skills test because it doesn’t prepare them for college, rather it puts stress on students, it doesn’t show how smart the student is and disrupts academic learning. Adrian Johnson and Kalamazoo Gazette (2009) states that “At the end of their senior year, students take a test written by the state. It includes everything the state “expects” the public schools to have taught these students including writing, reading, math and other subjects.” The problem with this is while some students are natural test takers, others are not. A student may know everything but have problems with tests which could be anything from nerves to severe attention deficit disorder (Johnson & Gazette, 2009).
According to Fairtest …show more content…
Students not only have to worry about passing their classes but they also have to worry about passing the graduation exam. Since 1979, a growing number of states have required high school students to pass exit examinations before they can receive diplomas. For nearly as long, scholars and policy makers have debated whether such exams do more harm than good (Glenn, 2007). Now two teams of scholars have written papers that support the more harm than good thesis. In a recent working paper, Thomas S. Dee, an associate professor of economics at Swarthmore College, and Brian A. Jacob, an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard University, reported that students in states with relatively easy exit exams are roughly 4 percent more likely to drop out of high school than similar students in states with no exams. In states with relatively difficult exit exams, students are 5.5 percent more likely to drop out than their counterparts in states with no exams (Glenn, 2007). The effects are stronger among African American men, Mr. Dee and Mr. Jacob found. In states with easy exit exams, black male students are 5.2 percent more likely to drop out of high school than their counterparts in states with no exit exams. In states with more rigorous exit exams, they are 7.3 percent more likely to drop out than are their counterparts in states with no exit exams (Glenn, 2007). Students are now dropping out of school
According to Fairtest …show more content…
Students not only have to worry about passing their classes but they also have to worry about passing the graduation exam. Since 1979, a growing number of states have required high school students to pass exit examinations before they can receive diplomas. For nearly as long, scholars and policy makers have debated whether such exams do more harm than good (Glenn, 2007). Now two teams of scholars have written papers that support the more harm than good thesis. In a recent working paper, Thomas S. Dee, an associate professor of economics at Swarthmore College, and Brian A. Jacob, an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard University, reported that students in states with relatively easy exit exams are roughly 4 percent more likely to drop out of high school than similar students in states with no exams. In states with relatively difficult exit exams, students are 5.5 percent more likely to drop out than their counterparts in states with no exams (Glenn, 2007). The effects are stronger among African American men, Mr. Dee and Mr. Jacob found. In states with easy exit exams, black male students are 5.2 percent more likely to drop out of high school than their counterparts in states with no exit exams. In states with more rigorous exit exams, they are 7.3 percent more likely to drop out than are their counterparts in states with no exit exams (Glenn, 2007). Students are now dropping out of school