Basic Skills Test Essay

Should students have to pass a basic skills test to graduate high school? A basic skills test is very controversial, it leaves a lot of kids in distress over whether or not they will pass high school. A basic skills exit exam tests you over writing, math, reading, and other skills. If students don’t pass then they get the option to study and take it again, or they have to go to summer classes and retake courses so they can pass. There is another way to get your diploma, though, and that is to offer a portfolio of their work and they can pass that way. I would say no if I were out in that situation, I think that it is unreasonable for the state to do that to us. Twenty-three states have made it a requirement that high school students need …show more content…
To employers passing an exit exam to them says that you are able to retain the skills you learned in high school and can do at least 10th grade math and have decent English skills. College is a whole other story in what an exit exam can do. To almost all colleges it doesn’t matter whether or not you took and exit exam test. What matters to them most is your ACT score and more specifically the English and math sections. These two are needed the most to be able to comprehend almost anything in college. The ACT is not an unreasonable way to determine which college you go to. It lists your strong suits and your weaknesses and the college can determine whether or not you are worth their time and if you can keep up in their …show more content…
According to (fairtest) “Graduation tests do not make high school diplomas more valuable to employers. There is no evidence that exit exams make diplomas more meaningful in the labor market”. Most of these tests do not replicate what it will be like in college or the work force, depending on what job you want to go into, and are said to be generally easy. Fairtest also states that “They rely primarily on multiple-choice questions, some adding a few short written pieces. They rarely require students to apply their learning or engage in higher-level thinking”. This contradicts what the state is trying to do. This means that yet again there system is flawed. The people who do not pass the exit exam did not take the required courses, have something wrong with them, or are bad test takers. For these people there may be a way out. Great schools states that “Most states offer remediation and opportunities to take the test again. This may include remediation classes during the school day, before or after school and during the summer”. Some states are even offering backdoor options. In New Jersey kids have the option to present a portfolio of their work and if it is official they may receive a diploma that way. Oregon gives students three different choices, these include a national test, state assessments, or a local version, which would be the same as a portfolio. If they pass any of these