An Investigation Of Exit Exam

Having ineffective teachers can severly lower graduation rates, as well as college graduation rates. In today’s society, a high school diploma can determine if a job applicant gets the job they applied for or not. High school does help prepare students for the real world and helps provide them with the basic tools needed to succeed. Therefore, graduating high school is a necessity nowadays and having caring, powerful teachers is very important. Because of ineffective teachers, students are not being prepared for the real world and their job salary earnings will also

On account of high school students having to take a standardized test to graduate, one reason why this intake is unnecessary and irrelevant is because different schools teach different things. According to the article, “Should A Standardized Test Be A Requirement For High School Graduation?”, it suggests, “The standardized test

Higher education in America is facing many challenges, i.e., low retention, low graduation rates and less funding. Postsecondary institutions are scrambling to remain a competitive entity within society. In order to do so, students must remain in school (Talbert, 2012). The Office of the White House states (2014), educational attainment is critical to our county’s economic success. In essence, the work force is creating more jobs requiring more education and a higher level of skill than was previously achieved. Individuals with only a high school diploma will not make into the middle class sector because of

With college admissions relying so highly on these tests many bright and capable students are getting left with little options (Sternberg 7). These students are facing this because the ACT and SAT primary focus on a narrow segment of skills that are needed to become a person that makes significant differences to the world (Sternberg 7). College’s argue that the admission test give them a quick glimpse of what the students potential is because they do not have to time to individually evaluate each potential student. This may be true but we need a better way to distinguish a person’s abilities than just a simple score on a test.

NCLB reduces effective instruction as well as student learning by causing states to lower achievement goals and teacher motivation. Assertively, I support my argument that students who are disadvantaged or disabled do not reach the same proficiency as other students due to the simple fact that everyone learns differently, has different areas of strengths and weaknesses, and are essentially learning curriculum for a mandated state test that solely measures how well subgroups of children test on generic material based on each

The American College Testing (ACT), 2010 concluded that a large number of high school students and high school graduates do not possess the knowledge and skills for college level work or career training. With the creation and implementation of common core standards, states and school districts have a clear set of student expectations to target

There is a strong irony in our emphasis on standardized testing in a country that promotes diversity among career options for students. Tests are mandated throughout the country and students spend days preparing for the multiple exams they have to complete. Many students pay hundreds of dollars for tutoring and prep materials to improve their scores on these standardized tests. Even school syllabuses have shifted to help prepare for the big standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT.This frenzy behind standardized testing is understandable however, since colleges put a lot of weightage on standardized test scores and the government hands out thousands of dollars of scholarships to both students and schools based on the results of these exams. The Washington Post estimates the market to be a two billion annual business.

Standardized testing has been around since the early 1900’s. Today, it determines a high school student’s future. Every year juniors in high school start to prepare months in advance for the SAT’s and ACT’s. Along with the test itself, comes stress that is not necessary. The debate of standardized tests defining a student’s academic ability or not has become a recent popular controversial topic. Many colleges and universities are starting to have test optional applications because they are realizing that a single test score does not demonstrate the knowledge of a student. There is more value in a student that should rule an acceptance or rejection. In the article, “SAT Scores Help Colleges Make Better Decisions” Capterton states, “The SAT has proven to be valid, fair, and a reliable data tool for college admission” (Capterton). Capterton, president of the College Board, believes that the SAT’s and ACT’s should be used to determine a student’s acceptance because it is an accurate measure. What Capterton and deans of admissions of colleges and universities don’t know is the abundant amount of resources upper class families have for preparation, the creative talents a student has outside of taking tests, and the amount of stress they put on a 17 year old.

Education plays an important role in every person’s future. Not only does it enhance a person’s intellect, but it allows them to discover what they want to become. For the past years, high school students were having trouble graduating and when Texas ranked the lowest in the population that received a high school diploma, the state decided to minimize the amount of exams students had to pass. Although Texas students became successful in graduating, this way of graduating harms the student because they were unable to understand the basics in their education. The reduction of End-of-course exams from fifteen to five and later to three motivate students, but also teaches them that they don’t need to work hard.

This article is about how using standards and assessments do not fully measure the educational quality of the students. It also suggests that the standardized assessments promise something that is not possible with all students. It is important to keep the standardized assessments simple and not go to deep into each subject.

Nearly half of Penn State freshman that may be seen on the first day, will not be there through the first semester. 46 percent of college freshmen drop out of college their first year (Higgins). Why are nearly half of all students dropping out, when in order to be accepted they had to meet ‘college readiness benchmarks’? One of the most well-known benchmarks is the SAT. In fact, 1.7 million students took the SAT in 2015, which is higher from the previous year of 1.67 million (Adams).  These numbers are very large due to the fact that most colleges and universities require students to send their scores as part of the application process. Although most require SAT scores to be admitted, SAT scores are unnecessary

The article “Use the Common Core. Use It Widely. Use It Well” by William E. (Brit) Kirwan, Timothy P. White, and Nancy Zimpher states that many high school graduates lack the skills needed to enter and succeed at college level courses. Though the writers list much support of Common Core State Standards there is also political resistance and assessment difficulties. Colleges and students are using many unnecessary dollars to bring high school graduates up to college entry level standards. This national problem affects all areas of the country and the cost of not finding a solution to improving student success in college and vocational training could be detrimental to society.

The 1980s brought a new reform movement in education, accompanied by a new emphasis on testing. The effort to improve education at all levels included the use of standardized tests to provide accountability for what students are learning. Minimum competency tests, achievement tests, and screening instruments were used to ensure that students from preschool through college reached the desired educational goals and achieved the minimum standards of education that were established locally or by the state education agency. As we continue in a new century, these concerns have increased.

College graduation and dropout rates have long been used as a central indicator of education system productivity and effectiveness and of social and economic well-being. Today, interest in the accuracy and usefulness of these statistics is particularly acute owing to a confluence of circumstances, including changing demographics, new legislative mandates, and heightened political pressures to reduce the incidence of dropping out. Students who are unable to pass the assessments may simply leave school before graduating. Not everyone drops out because they lack the determination to finish, instead they run into another obstacle while equipped with the motivation. Those of which are trying to regulate the balance of work and school, unexpected family problems, and financial problems.

In addition, beginning with the high school graduating class of 2004, students are required to pass six SOL end-of-course tests to earn a diploma. Thus, for high school students, the SOL tests are appropriately referred to as highstakes tests. At the elementary level, poor performance by an individual may result in retention or assignment to summer school, while poor performance at the building level may result in loss of accreditation (which would jeopardize the position of the building-level administrator). The focus of publicity about the Standards of Learning─ both as a curriculum framework and as an accountability