San Francisco High School Exit Exam - Essay Example

You will certainly agree that exit exams do not tend to be fair in the sense that it is absurd to expect the same performance from students hailing from varied and diverse schools (edutopia) (Same here). Each school has its own specialties and weaknesses and hence not all schools extend identical opportunities for education. An exit exam makes a student bear with the burden of high expectations and exposes one to unwarranted pressure and stress (Palo Alto Online News) (this is a web source with no writer or page number mentioned.

So it is to be cited this way). Passing out from a high school should not be made such solemn and grave a task to require such seriousness and preparation. Many if not most of the high school students are not as tough and hardy as to grapple with the required competitiveness that defines an exit exam. Is it right to expose their innocent minds to cutthroat competitiveness at such a nascent stage? Moreover, exist exam stands to be a sheer wastage of scarce resources, which could certainly be put to some better use.

A better way out will be to evolve evaluation methods that are student centric and do not treat students as a herd of cattle to be evaluated in one go by resorting to a highly standardized approach. Since 2006, the high school students in San Francisco are required to pass an exam involving mathematics and English as a mandatory graduation requirement. This exam not only has generated much controversy in the last three years, but also has become a political hot potato. Only a day had passed when the legislators voted to eliminate high school exit exam graduation requirement that the governor ardently pledged to stymie any move that intended to do away with this exam (Tucker) (this is a web source with author’s name, but no page number.

Hence, it is to be cited this way). A significant section of the politicians and the