Fail Exam? You Don't Graduate

Nanette Asimov:

State Superintendent Jack O'Connell delivered a tough-love message Friday to nearly 50,000 high school seniors still hoping to escape a new requirement that they pass the state's exit exam to get a diploma in June:

The answer is "no,'' he said. There will be no way for this year's students who fail the test to graduate with their classmates.

His message was a response to demands from critics of the exit exam that he find some alternative to this high-stakes test.

"I have concluded that there is no practical alternative available that would ensure that all students awarded a high school diploma have mastered the subject areas tested by the exam and needed to compete in today's global economy," O'Connell said.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 7, 2006 6:50 AM
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