The Feld-Blog

We all remember standardized testing. We all hated the SAT. Those of us unlucky enough to be subjected to the PSAT, or worse, the GMAT, GRE, LSAT or MCAT cringe at the very mention of the word standardized test. But Schwarzenegger and some other California legislators want to give California students one last punch in the gut before they swing their tassels and toss their mortar boards. They have instituted a standardized high school exit exam, with no function other than to rip diplomas out of the hands of high school seniors who fail the test.Now, they are resisting Superior Court Judge, Robert Freedman's tentative injunction against the test.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for accountability and raising California's education standards. I truly believe that education is what will maintain this country's greatness. But a standardized exit test is bad policy, and possibly unconstitutional (according to the California constitution).

Non-native speakers of English and kids who live in underprivileged areas and in poor school districts simply don't have the chances to pass this test that others do. It is an inherently unfair system - punishing kids who have already had to endure bad school districts and underfunded schools. Any law with such a disparate impact on racial and socioeconomic groups is unconstitutional according to California law. And besides, what is more likely? That students who fail this test will renew their efforts in the next year to get their diploma or drop out and simply look for a job without the benefit of a high school diploma? Probably the latter.

If you really want to make schooling better, administer the test at the end of sophomore year. If students fail then, give them specific goals they have to reach before they can graduate. At least in this instance the test can act as a motivator - inspiring the student to work to get their diploma. By administering the test at the end of senior year we are just ripping diploma's out of student's hands without giving them so much as the slightest chance to remedy the situation.

This simply isn't helping anything. California's educational system certainly needs improvement, but encouraging students to drop out at the last minute not the way to improve graduating seniors' test scores. It might make the statistics look better, but it is an incredibly dangerous band-aid on a deep, hemorrhaging wound in California. The band-aid may cover up the problem, but just because we stop seeing it in the statistics doesn't mean we've actually improved anything.