Special ed students in California will be exempt from high school exit exams

From the San Jose Mercury News:

The on-again, off-again high school exit exam is back on — but not for everyone.

Passing California's high school exit exam will remain a requirement for students to graduate from high school, according to the state budget agreement reached this week. But lawmakers also crafted a compromise: special education students in the class of 2010 and possibly beyond will be exempt from having to pass the multiple-choice test to earn a diploma.

The exit exam became a flash point in budget negotiations in June when Democrats, including Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, said they could not in good conscience mandate passing the exit exam as a graduation requirement while at the same time slashing state funding for public schools. The business community and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger swiftly condemned the idea, saying the exit exam is key to preparing students for 21st century work.

Parents of special education students are sharply divided over requiring their kids to pass the test. Some say their children are just as smart as nondisabled students and should not be held to lower standards. However, others argue the test is unfair for kids with certain disabilities who repeatedly failed the test and were consequently denied a high school diploma.

The exam is a two part multiple-choice test of English and math that students first tackle in 10th grade, and can retake their junior and senior years.

About nine in 10 students from the class of 2008, the last year for which complete data is available, passed the exit exam. But nearly half of all special education students never mastered the test.

In Santa Clara County, about 85 percent of the students pass the test as sophomores. But for special education students, the passage rate in the county is just 47 percent. The passage rate gradually rises over time as students take it again in later grades.

Roughly 194,000 students with disabilities are currently in high school. The designation includes students with significant physical disabilities, like blindness or cerebral palsy, as well as mental retardation, autism, and learning disabilities like dyslexia.

Kristina Guzman's son Nick, who has a high-functioning form of autism, struggled but ultimately passed the exit exam as a student at Westmont High School in Campbell. Nick graduated with the class of 2008 and is now taking music classes at De Anza College.

"Since he did pass it, it gives him some credibility with people." Kristina Guzman said. "Passing the test and getting a high school diploma does mean something."

Others say that many special education students do well in their classes and are on track to graduate with the rest of their class until it comes to the exit exam. Some students are simply not good test-takers, even if they are given modifications like more time or a test with larger type to accommodate their disabilities. Advocates say repeatedly failing the exam crushes students' self-esteem.

"We're quite pleased," said Sid Wolinsky of Disability Rights Advocates, a Berkeley-based law firm that sued the state over concerns that the exit exam is discriminatory. "We have long felt that the exit exam is terrible public policy and quite unfair to children with disabilities."

State education officials and other critics are alarmed that the exit exam applied to special education students in the class of 2008 and 2009, but not in future classes.

"It's nonsensical, and it sets up a two-tier system," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who wanted to keep the test for all students. "It devalues the diplomas earned by special education students."