(October 26, 2001) -- Seventy-nine percent of Clark freshmen who took California’s High School Exit Exam last year passed the math section, while an incredible 95 percent passed the English language arts portion of the test. Administrators fanned themselves, lauding each other on their expertise and tireless crusade to educate. Parents clutched the results and cast their eyes upward in silent gratitude and smiled with pride. The students who passed sighed with relief.

Whereas this could have been a happy moment, it’s sadly tainted by the same fact that fills the hearts of people with ecstasy. The students who passed the exam last year proved themselves qualified to graduate high school. So why are these freshmen, now sophomores, still here?

The High School Exit Exam was administered to freshmen last year a little into second semester, which put them at a disadvantage as they were still in the process of learning the material that they were being tested on. In spite of this drawback, the students of the class of 2004 at Clark did amazingly well compared to other schools in the state. However, when we look at other state results, Clark students performed better in math last year, scoring in the 82nd percentile, and landing in the 76th percentile in language.

Logically, student performance on one state test should correlate with other state test results, but the SAT 9 and the High School Exit Exam numbers contradict.

To ensure that students are coming away from high school with the education they need, the state needs to make sure that its new tests and exams are worthwhile to both students as well as teachers so that the teachers may be informed about what their students need to focus on.

The state needs to up its standards and promote education by making the new exit exam harder to pass instead of handing its schools yet another tedious test that takes away from learning time. The test should be able to accurately measure students’ competence at the correct level of education and see to it that students aren’t merely scraping by high school with the least amount of learning they can get away with.

The standards that California has set for its schools are so low it’s virtually guaranteed that all students will be able to pass and graduate by the time they are seniors. So what’s the whole point of the test? If these kids are qualified to graduate already, send them on their way!

Our schools are over-crowded, the teachers are underpaid and the system is under-appreciated. Doesn’t passing the exit exam show that students are sufficiently educated and should be pushed ahead?