Jawid 3
Bader Jawid
Prof. Gregory Strawn
ENGWR 300 M-W. 6:00 PM
Exploratory Essay FFD
California’s High School Exit Exam
Every student who graduates from high school desires to collect a diploma and receive hands of applause from people on the stage. For instance, this achievement had been door trapped by high school exit exam. The exit exam was formed as a pathway to collect the high school diploma. The sections included in this exam were English reading and writing, Math and Arts skills. At some extent there were science and social studies included. Basically, students are required to take it upon completion of high school. California’s high school exit exam opens a door for students to get a diploma. It measures students’ educational capacity, discriminates immigrants, and diminishes self-esteem.
To begin with, high school exit exam mandates to measure students’ educational capacity. For example, Stan Karp states “High school exit tests are the trapdoors of the education world.” This illustrates that students’ diplomas are tied with their exam scores, it may push them out of school for missing the mark, and they will end up in the streets, unemployed and even become acid to the community for ending up in prisons. My friend, Abdul is a living example of being the victim of a university entry exam. Hopefully, it didn’t mislead him to prison but not giving up he worked hard and struggled to make ways towards studies. Furthermore, the students in my country who failed the university exam test would wait till the next year for a second try, and for the third try. They were talented and graduated with a higher grade from school, but their whole future depended on one university entry exam in which they gained higher marks not matching the faculty requirement, and it ruined their life. They ended up working in retail stores and light industrial companies. “It was a sad and devastating day for me when I learned I wouldn’t receive my high school diploma,” Radford states, “I’ve had so many doors of opportunity slammed in my face for not having my diploma” (qtd. in Leal). This indicates that one exit test destroys a student’s 12 years school hard work and future educational plans. Radford is just one example of thousands of students who shied from the high school exit exam passing mark. She couldn’t pass the exit exam before the end of her senior year, and it resulted in lack of work opportunities.
In addition, high school exit exam offers both advantages and disadvantages to immigrants. For example, in 2006, Bloemraad noted, “a group of students at Richmond High School, including immigrant students, organized and sought support to file a lawsuit claiming that California’s high school exit exam discriminates against poor and minority students.” This expresses that the high school exit exam results do not affect the wealth and educational progress of students being citizens of US. The majority being affected by exit exam are the minority immigrants...
