Requiring students to pass a standardized test to receive a high Essay

Requiring students to pass a standardized test to receive a high school diploma will not improve the educational standards or academic achievement in our school - Essay Example They will be enabled to assess the suitability of the student who had applied for admission into undergraduate or graduate degree programs (Standardized Tests, 2006). Twenty – two states of the Union have implemented such exit examinations and there is a proposal in four more states to follow suit. Critics have opined that implementing exit examinations in schools would not be beneficial to children from low income group families. Controversy surrounds these exit examinations. Thus, the state of Maryland postponed its examinations schedule for two years. The state Board of Education is keenly reviewing the date regarding implementation of exit examinations. However, proponents of exit examinations claim that the tests would improve the quality of education and contribute to the achievement of higher goals (Toppo). An improvement in the amount of time expended on various subjects was discerned in high school graduation. For instance, in the year 2005, sixty – eight percent of high school graduates had studied English for four years and mathematics, science and social studies for three years. This is a laudable feat and is higher than that of the year 1990, wherein only forty percent of the students had graduated in the core subjects. According to the results of a federal study, in the year 2005, fifty – one percent of students had taken college preparatory work, which had been only thirty – one percent in the year 1990 (Toppo). According to Russlyn Ali of the Education Trust West, an advisory group in Oakland, most of the children in the USA graduated without acquiring basic knowledge and skills. This was established in the federal study. Moreover, that study had disclosed that the average high school senior student was unable to read fluently and lacked basic skills. In addition, Jack Jennings of the Center on Education Policy,