South Carolina is implementing a new, tougher exit exam:
An estimated 45,000 sophomores at public schools across the state will take High School Assessment Program tests over three days, beginning Tuesday...All students in their second year of high school will take the new tests. The results will go on individual transcripts and also play a key role in school ratings.
Unlike the old pass-fail exam it replaces, the new test has a four-tier grading system. A student must get a “Level 2” score or higher to satisfy a state graduation requirement.
Students will be allowed four retakes - not a crazily large number, I suppose. The new test is untimed. And hey, they got students at my alma mater to comment:
College-bound students at Lexington High School say the new test — they took practice versions of it a year ago — is more challenging, but not overwhelmingly difficult. "On the old test, you could guess and get answers right," said Robby Meldau. "Your weaknesses can be exposed by the new test"...
An experimental version, or "field test," was administered to sophomores a year ago, but individual results were not recorded. The state Education Department used that test to gauge its effectiveness and fairness.
Lexington High junior Jennifer Fomby said she thinks the state succeeded. The test “asked good questions that made you think,” she said. Harrison Burns, also a junior, said the new test “wasn’t as nerve-wracking. This test required a different style of thinking.”
Burns said the old test, which his class had to take as a graduation requirement, had laughable wrong answers to multiple-choice questions that made the right answer obvious.
Here are samples of the new, presumably non-laughable items for ELA and Mathematics. I didn't look too long at the ELA items; I saw one which requires students to read and assess a poem, the very thought of which gives me hives.
The Mathematics items, though, seem clear and concise (students can use calculators). I sent this one item to my boyfriend:
13. Suppose you have one of each of the following items in your closet.
Items in Closet
Category_____Type/Color
shirts________plaid, red, blue, or tan
pants________brown, black
shoes________plastic sandals, canvas shoes, leather shoes
How many combinations can you make using one item from each category?
A. 9
B. 12
C. 18
D. 24
This item is funny to me because my boyfriend watches me go through many, many permutations of about 10 black sweaters/blazers, 20 black skirts, and 10 pairs of black shoes every morning. You'd think that everything being black would mean I'd get dressed quickly, but no. The expression on his face as he watches me ranges between amused and appalled.
I also have a really, really hard time accepting that a red shirt, brown pants, and plastic sandals constitute a legitimate clothing combination. But that's just me.
Posted by kswygert at April 19, 2004 02:26 PM