for further information:
Lisa Guisbond (617) 959-2371
Dr. Monty Neill (617) 477-9792
Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773
for immediate release, Thursday, October 8, 2015
CALIFORNIA SUSPENDS HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION TEST,
MAKING 30,000+ YOUNG PEOPLE ELIGIBLE FOR RETROACTIVE DIPLOMAS;
JOINS NATIONAL TREND OF STATES REPEALING EXIT EXAMS
Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation suspending California’s requirement that students pass a test to graduate from high school. The new policy is retroactive for a decade. As a result, more than 30,000 young people who were denied diplomas now can receive them.
California’s graduation exam repeal is part of an accelerating trend, according to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest), which advocates for assessment reforms. FairTest Policy Analyst Lisa Guisbond explained, “In addition to California, Minnesota and Mississippi also ended diploma exams this year. Three other states – Alaska, Rhode Island and South Carolina – cancelled graduation tests in 2014. South Carolina, along with Arizona and Georgia which dumped their tests in previous years, will also award diplomas retroactively to thousands of students.” No more than 20 states now have mandatory exit exams.
FairTest Executive Director Monty Neill added, “Each graduation exam repeal is a victory for students as well as the testing resistance and reform movement. Across the country, rapidly growing numbers of parents, students, educators, and community leaders are saying, ‘Enough is Enough,’ to standardized test overkill. It is clear that state policy makers are beginning to listen. FairTest expects many more testing reform victories in the coming year.”
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