My daughter, a sophomore, took the CAHSEE, or California High School Exit Examination, at her school Tuesday. It was her first shot at the test; students get as many as seven attempts to pass. Afterward, she informed me, she was sitting around with some classmates talking about how easy it was. "How could anybody fail that test?" one kid said. "How?"
"Laziness," my daughter said. She told them how she'd overheard two students who'd been seated right in front of her in the testing room, talking about the essay question. The question: Discuss someone in your community who has made an impact in your life. (I am paraphrasing the question, but it really did use the word "community." High school students don't use words like that, but I digress.) . "What," one girl asked the other, "did you put for the essay question?" "Nothing," the second girl said, holding up a blank sheet of paper to prove it. And she turned it in that way.
Seventy percent of students pass the test on their first try. Of the remaining 30 percent, many undoubtedly have understandable reasons for failure. Then there's this girl. I wonder how many are similarly inspired? Maybe they need to be impacted by someone in their community.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Essay questions are easy...it's the MATH that's evil! And NO, I could NOT pass the high school exit exam math portion...I have no illusions on that score
ReplyDeleteIt's because most kids have been passed on from grade to grade without any regard to competency and mastery. If you look at most high schools in bakersfield today there are more programs for remediation than I care to see. Some students know they don't have to try very hard before they are moved to a special program for those who are behind credits. They take Mikey Mouse classes to make up credits and bam they have a diploma. Junior High School is even worse... 60% of those students have not met those requirements before they are sent to high school..
ReplyDeleteThe CAHSEE is based on 7th grade English and 8th Grade math (maybe reversed) but the point is some have to try 6 or 7 times to pass the thing and they still get a diploma. We are graduating a whole generation of underachieving people.
I was a late bloomer in high school. I didn't take it serious enough until I was a junior. I guess the bigger question is what can we do to help the teachers. I am sure it frustrates them when they have student who is not putting in the effort. I am sure some people will argue it's the parents' responsibility too. Which gets me back to my main question - what can we do to fix it?
ReplyDeleteI took the exit exam for the first time in march
ReplyDeletei passed english with a 424 and math with a 395.
im not quite sure why people choose not to try your future depends on it.