The advantages and disadvantages of the California EXit Exam (Essay Sample)

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The Advantages and Disadvantages of the California Exit Exam (CAHSEE)
California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) is a test requirement by the California department of education for high school students before they can graduate for their diploma. CAHSEE is divided into two section; English language arts (ELA) and mathematics (Readon, Atteberry, Arshan & Kurlaender 3). The examination tests the students’ skills in reading, writing and mathematics skills before they can be allowed to graduate in high school. The first examination is done at the beginning of sophomore year where the student is expected to pass the two sections of the examination. In case the student fails, he/she can re-take either of the section he/she has failed or re-do the two sections afresh (Zhen 1). The student is only allowed eight opportunities to pass the exams before the senior year ends. CAHSEE initiative was begun by the state government to determine the proficiency for a high school diploma after finding that a large number of students in California graduated from high school without suitable knowledge. It is important that CAHSEE be used in graduation and the student who fail the test re-do the examination because its failure is a show of low interest in the student.
CAHSEE is advantageous because it motivates the students to perform well. The low-achievers are encouraged to put much effort so that they can graduate. When the students understand that CAHSEE is a determinant of their employment when they leave school, they will put more efforts. The aim of the test was to motivate students to put extra efforts in their studies so that they can be competitive in the job market and not to necessarily help them improve their performances (Readon et. al 3). The test prepares the students to work and easies the employers the burden of analyzing job applicants. English being the most official language and mathematics skills basics in daily calculations, CAHSEE will enable the students to focuses their abilities on the subjects. The California education department allows the students to re-sit the tests for several times. The student should therefore use the chance to re-sit the exam if he/she fails in the first one. Any failure should be accounted on the student because the skills are generally the ones they have been using in the whole course work.
CAHSEE does not improve students’ performance and therefore should not be used against student’s graduation. California department of education cited that the test does not have any positive effect on student’s academic performance. A research by Stanford University showed that many students fail in the exams despite that their course work was excellent. In their research, out of 475,000 high school students, 20,000 did not manage to graduate because they had failed in the test (Zhen 1). The failure can be blamed on the students because from the same classes, there are students who pass with flying colors. However, the test has shown disparities in races, income, disability and English language speakers. The majority of students coming from low income families and immigrants are the major failures in the test. This shows that they do not have equal opportunities to graduate from high school. It has also been noted that the whites have an upper hand to passing the test than the immigrants because they are English speakers. The test is done in public schools while the private schools are spared from the test unless the students have disabilities. This is a show of unfairness to those who cannot afford to school from private institutions. In this case, if the student fails, he/she should be allowed to graduate because the students in private schools are allowed to graduate.
Though the student may fail in the CAHSEE test, he/she is given a certificate of completion to show that student has met graduation requirements. This signifies that the student might have failed in all subjects but he/she has completed the course. If this student is allowed to graduate, the performance in the job market will be very low because the market entails reading, writing or mathematical abilities (Betts, Zau, Zieleniak & Bachofer 4). It is important for the student to understand that these are essential skills in the market and to enforce this, a failure in CAHSEE test should not be allowed to graduate. However, not all employers would require English speak...