Is the California High School Exit Exam Discriminatory?

[concernedmom]

May I just say that some of you have very cruel beliefs on the way a child should be rewarded for their efforts in high school? I have an amazing daughter with a memory processing disability. She goes to school EVERYDAY, meets with tutors and tries so hard to succeed. And now she won't get a diploma because she can’t pass the math part not because she hasn't worked her *** off for the last four years trying everything! Her school offers a certificate of completion which is basically equivalent to a GED. I must say she could have partied her way thru school doing NOTHING and still gotten a GED.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I think its a like a bad idere because like what if you try like real hard and all but the teach doesn't like learn you good and its not like you did anything rong or stuff and then you don't get you're diploma.

 

[Evo]

May I just say that some of you have very cruel beliefs on the way a child should be rewarded for their efforts in high school? I have an amazing daughter with a memory processing disability. She goes to school EVERYDAY, meets with tutors and tries so hard to succeed. And now she won't get a diploma because she can’t pass the math part not because she hasn't worked her *** off for the last four years trying everything! Her school offers a certificate of completion which is basically equivalent to a GED. I must say she could have partied her way thru school doing NOTHING and still gotten a GED.

Are you saying that mentally disabled children aren't held to different requirements for graduation? I find that hard to believe, or is your daughter not in special ed classes? If she has a diagnosed disabilty, I believe that she would get special consideration. You can get two extra hours to complete the SAT with just a doctor's note.

 

[Sorry!]

Woah you guys don't have to take exams after courses? I'm wondering though how do you take a 'year' end exam. In ontario the only mandatory course for all 4 years is english.. 3 for math 2 for science 1 for gym then there are 4 other mandatory courses but u have options of 3 different courses for each credit and then the rest are open courses. this is to obtain your Ontario Secondary School Diploma

at the end of each course you take an exam... normally its worth 30% of your mark, yuo have also a culminating 'task' (like an essay over the entire course) that's worth in some courses 30% of your mark term work is worth the other 40%. the term work is chopped up mainly over unit tests and some assignments. this is just at the high school i attended though. People who had top marks in the class definitely deserved them.

Some schools however were different and the teachers give out marks, when these kids get to university they waste money, time, and energy. In fact in some schools students in grade 12 don't even know how to PROPERLY write a PARAGRAPH let alone an essay.

And I'm not going to lie I feel really pissed off when my girlfriend shows me the work she does to get 80% in a course and compare it to what I have to do to get even 70%... so i think state wide exams are a great idea.

In Ontario as well though if you have a learning disability say in, English (you get tested i think in grade 3) then you get what's called an I.E.P. Independant education plan. where you nd your family sit down with people and develop your own person education plan which includes extra time on test and exemption from certain courses, you still achieve your O.S.S.D. though.

 

[Sorry!]

Are you saying that mentally disabled children aren't held to different requirements for graduation? I find that hard to believe, or is your daughter not in special ed classes? If she has a diagnosed disabilty, I believe that she would get special consideration. You can get two extra hours to complete the SAT with just a doctor's note.

Here if you are in special ed (my brother is 17 but has the mentality of about a grade 3 student for most subjects) you get put into special ed and you work towards a certificate instead of a diploma. I'm pretty sure you can apply to College with it but not university. Most special ed students go to 'trade' schools where instead they teach you life skills and how to do a specific job of your choice. I.E. my brother I believe is currently taking cooking courses as well as mechanical courses. This way it improves the odds of them acquiring a job.

 

[Evo]

Here if you are in special ed (my brother is 17 but has the mentality of about a grade 3 student for most subjects) you get put into special ed and you work towards a certificate instead of a diploma. I'm pretty sure you can apply to College with it but not university. Most special ed students go to 'trade' schools where instead they teach you life skills and how to do a specific job of your choice. I.E. my brother I believe is currently taking cooking courses as well as mechanical courses. This way it improves the odds of them acquiring a job.

Yes, this is my understanding, a special needs student follows a different track. Nice that they are giving him training in more than one thing.

 

[rootX]

May I just say that some of you have very cruel beliefs on the way a child should be rewarded for their efforts in high school? I have an amazing daughter with a memory processing disability. She goes to school EVERYDAY, meets with tutors and tries so hard to succeed. And now she won't get a diploma because she can’t pass the math part not because she hasn't worked her *** off for the last four years trying everything! Her school offers a certificate of completion which is basically equivalent to a GED. I must say she could have partied her way thru school doing NOTHING and still gotten a GED.

There is nothing cruel about it.
1) You need to meet some standards everywhere. Your effort alone doesn't count. (As for normal people, I think people here are rewarded a lot just for putting/showing some effort which makes things bit difficult when it comes to universities)
2) People with special needs shouldn't get free diplomas/jobs but they certainly should be helped as much as possible and at the same time shouldn't be pushed beyond their potential.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

May I just say that some of you have very cruel beliefs on the way a child should be rewarded for their efforts in high school? I have an amazing daughter with a memory processing disability. She goes to school EVERYDAY, meets with tutors and tries so hard to succeed. And now she won't get a diploma because she can’t pass the math part not because she hasn't worked her *** off for the last four years trying everything! Her school offers a certificate of completion which is basically equivalent to a GED. I must say she could have partied her way thru school doing NOTHING and still gotten a GED.

Would you prefer that your daughter gets rewarded with a diploma for trying really hard so she can feel all nice and fuzzy warm inside before she fails her college entrance exam? Or should she be allowed to pass that too because she tried really hard and then realize she can't keep up in class? Or maybe she should even be given a college degree too. But what then? Is she going to be able to get and hold down a college graduate level job? Just how long would you like to defer cold hard reality?

I have met plenty of good and hard working people with decent jobs that never graduated high school or only have GEDs. Would you insult and spit upon them with your insistence that your daughter must be better than that? That you don't want her to be a 'loser' like them?

I'm sure that it may be hard to take for both of you but you can't live life on fuzzy feelings and there are much better measures of worth in life than being able to get a high school diploma.

 

[lisab]

Yuck, what's that smell? Oh...three years dead zombie thread...