Accountability Delayed

Judge Robert Freedman of the Alameda County Superior Court suspended the graduation exam requirement (free registration required) for California's high school seniors. Set up in 1999, the exit exam is comprised of math (through basic algebra) and reading comprehension. The lawyer for the 47,000 students who failed the exam—many failed it three times—argued that a number of schools had failed to teach the necessary materials and that those students who did not pass the first time were not given the state-mandated remedial assistance before retaking the exam.

Now, don't think I have no sympathy for these students (they represent roughly 11% of the state's seniors who would graduate if the exam is not factored in). With the suspension of the exam's results, they are headed for the work force, for community colleges, for CSUs, and even for UCs, as well as private colleges and universities around the nation and perhaps the world. Somehow some of these students are heading for a selection of the top regional and national universities, yet they are unable to comprehend what they read and/or handle basic algebra.

We do a disservice when we say that these students, having thrice failed to demonstrate 8th grade reading and math skills, are prepared for UC and CSU admission. Indeed, admission to a university is an argument against today's ruling, not in favor of it. A student who cannot perform at the 8th grade level has no business at CSU Northridge or at UCLA—schools that do not offer the remediation the community college system is prepared to provide. Every year I have students from CSUs (and sometimes UCs). In some cases their writing skills are below college level, even when they have taken the same courses at a university that they are taking from me.

The worst thing that we can do is stall yet again in our enforcement of this exam. We cheapen the degrees of those who did pass, and we are asking students finishing their sophomore and junior years to take a deep breath and relax since there is a greater chance they will not have to meet this measurement either. The best way to get more from students, as educators well know, is to ask more of those students, holding them accountable when they miss the mark. Anything less threatens to return the diploma to an attendance certificate, little more than the worst of social promotion.