Report on Alternative High School Graduation Routes
In about half the states, students must pass an “exit
exam” to get a high school diploma. Most of these
states also allow students who have passed the required
courses but not the exit exam to demonstrate high school-level
achievement via an alternative evaluation. These alternatives
are controversial and draw criticism for being mere
“loopholes” for under achievers. A new report
from New Jersey sheds light on this broad controversy
and calls for reform, not elimination, of that state’s
alternative assessment.
The report
recommends significant changes to the “Special
Review Assessment” (SRA) process, but says that
eliminating it “would, almost by definition, constitute
bad public policy.” The report and its recommendations
have been endorsed by a number of well-known national
education experts, including Linda Darling-Hammond of
Stanford University who said, "the SRA is one reason
why New Jersey has both very high achievement levels
and very strong graduation rates... [it] reflects an
approach that a growing number of states are seeking
to emulate as an essential part of effective secondary
reform."
New Jersey has the highest graduation rates in the
nation. Educators and the public agree that students
need a high school diploma to “move ahead economically
or pursue higher education.” The new report argues
that ending the SRA would undermine those goals, especially
hurting English language learners, immigrants and those
in the lowest wealth urban districts.
Key Findings
The report, entitled New Jersey's Special Review
Assessment: Loophole or Lifeline? was prepared
by researchers from the Graduate Center of the City
University of New York, New Jersey's Education Law Center,
the Institute on Education Law and Policy at Rutgers
University and Newark's Project GRAD. Among its key
findings are the following:
• The number of New Jersey students graduating
via SRA almost doubled between 1999 and 2005. The
number declined in 2006, but 12 percent of all graduates
still earned their diplomas via the SRA that year.
• SRA's "performance tasks" are "rigorous"
and aligned with the ordinary exit exam the High School
Proficiency Assessment (HSPA). The report recommends
improving the reliability of SRA scoring and implementation
to improve its credibility as an assessment tool.
• There has been little research on the educational
experiences of SRA students or on their postsecondary
outcomes.
Recommendations
According to the report, "Eliminating the SRA
before significant improvements (now underway) are made
in secondary programs could have a major negative impact
on graduation rates, dropout rates, and the secondary
reform effort."
The report's recommendations urge New Jersey to develop
"multiple pathways to graduation" including:
• Continued administration of HSPA and of the
existing SRA until a revised alternative is fully
in place
• Implementation of a revised and strengthened
SRA
• Opportunities for districts to develop additional
local performance assessment systems that could be
externally validated by the state
• Alignment of proposed changes in the state's
assessment system and graduation standards with substantive
reform efforts to improve school programs.
"Such a menu of assessment strategies would assure
that all graduates meet New Jersey Core Curriculum
Requirements without insisting on one-size-fits-all,"
says the report. "It is important not to confuse
'assessment reform' with educational improvement.
The proper purpose of educational assessment is to
improve teaching and learning and to support better
outcomes for the greatest number of students. Reform
efforts should strengthen this fundamental purpose
and resist tendencies to sort and label young people...."
As New Jersey and many other states attempt to raise
the bar for earning a high school diploma and at the
same time increase graduation rates, the issues addressed
in this report will continue to receive close attention.
Prepared by Molly A. Hunter and Marcela Briceno,
September 14, 2007
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