Graduation Tests - Final



A Very Interesting, Critically Acclaimed Research Paper Regarding Graduation Tests

            “Very interesting. I look forward to reading…more.” –April Fitcher

            “Really interesting…A lot of good information…Nice job!” –Molly Castelvecchi

            Graduation tests, normally the concept would scare the average high school student. It adds another obstacle to the race out of high school, and you could be stopped from graduating when you are so close to the end. But, if you look further you’ll find that graduation tests are actually a highly beneficial system of academic encouragement. The benefits of adding an end of senior year exam, or graduation test, far outweigh the negative side. In short, the test would strongly benefit the student body in many ways, but the pros don’t stop there. Adding graduation tests would also be highly beneficial to the school faculty, the teachers in particular. And, a graduation test would be an excellent way for the people behind the schools to see the statistics on them and easily get a snapshot of how that school is doing. The graduation test would give benefits to all aspects of the schooling system and thus, would be a great addition to schools.

            First and foremost, the graduation test would give many benefits to the student body, and not just those at the top of their class. The test would be a superb way to merit the great students for their years of hard work throughout their high school career. Students who have been going above and beyond the required work and classes should get some sort of recognition for that, and scoring perfectly on the graduation test would be a perfect way for them to see how all their hard work has paid off. The test would also help to encourage the students that may be struggling to try harder in order to pass the test. Grace Chen posted a graph showing that 4.1% more students are passing the graduation tests in California since 2006. With graduation on the line, a below-average student would be more likely to seek help on subjects where he might fail on the test. Most below-average students don’t see the big picture, they think that they can just coast through school and not care. But, if there were one final test at the end of the year that they had to pass to graduate, they would have an end goal in sight and something to try and achieve. And those students who are not on either end of the spectrum, the average students, would work harder to be absolutely sure they could pass the test. If there were any doubt in the mind of an average student in an area of study, they would try hard to make sure that they knew everything there was to know on that subject. “State requirements that high school graduates pass exit exams were the leading edge of the movement towards standards-based reform and continue to be adopted and refined by states today” (www.nber.org).. In summary, adding an end of year, or graduation, test would create stronger, smarter students all across the board.

            As stated previously, the benefits of adding one final test at graduation don’t stop at the student body. They expand across all parts of the schooling system, including the teachers. Although I myself have never designed a curriculum for a high school class, I do understand the stress and problems that come with it. What do the students need to know? How should I teach this? Should I teach this? If there were to be a test that would be the end of the line for high school student knowledge, teachers would know exactly what the students need to know in every subject. It would be like having the class final written for you, and in knowing what is going to be on the final, a teacher would know exactly what to teach and how to teach it to best prepare the students for the test. Additionally, students in need of more individual attention in specific subject areas would be easier to help, because they also know what they are going to need to learn. Also, a graduation test would help teachers in specific subject areas. For instance, if the math portion of the graduation test is being failed by a large number of students, the math teachers and school administration need to correct the math education being provided. So, a graduation test would be a monumental landmark on the road to providing the perfect education.

Of course, there are also many people behind the schooling system that keep it moving, and all of those people would benefit as well. The addition of graduation tests would assist the government in making the big decisions about any school that reported their students’ scores. If the government knew which schools were passing a majority of their students on the tests, and which schools were doing badly on the tests, they would know how much funding to provide those schools. A school that is doing particularly well should be awarded more money for that, and schools that are struggling clearly need more money to fund the programs to help those kids in need. But, there are many people outside the government who are interested in how good schools are. Many parents would benefit from knowing the scores of schools in the area, because every parent wants their child to go to the best school possible. Everyone, even those people not directly in the schooling system would benefit from graduation tests.

            However, as with all incredibly brilliant ideas, there are those who are skeptical as to the benefits of the addition of a graduation test. Peter D Hart writes in an internet article: “the tests would be a bad idea to implement.”  Some people believe that graduation tests would discourage those students who are falling behind and won’t perform very well on the test. Furthermore, they might say that failing the test would cause the student to lose hope and drop out of school entirely. However, the tests are put in place to do just the opposite, a student who is falling behind will be compelled to study hard in order to pass the test and not have to undergo another year of high school. Skeptics might also say that the test would be expensive to implement and cause financial deficit to the schools that choose to use them. However, the test is designed to get schools more funding through either doing well and earning it, or doing poorly and needing it. So, although there may be some costs associated with the initial setup of the testing program, the end result would be more money for the school every year. Therefore, a graduation test would be a fantastic idea to add to schools all across America, and those who have counter arguments, have no argument.

            In short, a graduation test would be extremely helpful if implemented. Students all across America would benefit from the increasingly focused teaching; teachers would be more able to provide individualized attention and lessons that are relevant to the end goal of the students; and the government and parents would be able to get a quick, accurate snapshot of how any school is doing. Every person involved in any way with the schooling system would benefit greatly in some way by adding these tests. Graduation tests shouldn’t be implemented as soon as possible, they must be implemented now.