The high school graduation in California is now at the lowest it has been since 1996, according to numbers posted by the California Department of Education. Approximately 140,000 high school students, or one third of the total population of seniors, failed to graduated. The pass rate is 67 percent, as compared to 71 percent the previous year. That 4 percentage point drop equals an additional 21,000 students who did not walk down the aisle with a cap and gown.
Most educators attribute the drop to the enactment of a law requirement students to pass an exit exam prior to graduation. Beginning with the class of 2006, every student planning to graduate from a high school in California must first pass the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). A State Law enacted in 1999 authorized the implementation of the test, its primary purpose being to improve the academic achievement of public school students. The exam was created to ensure that students graduating from public school would be able to perform at their grade level in reading, writing, and mathematics.
"It indicates that before the exit exam requirement, students were graduating without having the skills measured by the exam," said Ann Bancroft, spokeswoman for state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell. Ms. Bancroft authored the exit exam law in 1999 while a state senator. Critics insist that the law fails to adequately and fairly represent the actual academic preparedness of students.
Increasing numbers of students are considering an alternative; the GED. The GED is an exam developed in the United States that is available for all adults who want an equivalent of a high school diploma. It tests general academic skills and core content that are covered in four years of high school. Each year hundreds of thousands of people earn their GED diplomas, which they use to get jobs, earn promotions, or qualify for higher education or training. However, the GED and the California High School Exit Exam test comparable skills.