Christie, Cerf: More Testing Ahead for High School Students

Governor Chris Christie and Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf want New Jersey for college and the job market -- which means, they say, more testing.

While no one would argue that students should work hard in high school and use their brain power effectively when they graduate, Christie and Cerf are providing no specifics about how that might be accomplished -- beyond announcing that a new standardized testing program will begin when this year's fourth-graders start high school. The tests will be administered to ninth, 10th and 11th graders with a goal of making them more prepared for college and the workplace after graduation. 

"It is an interesting plan in concept and anything that would improve student achievement is a good thing," said Paul Casarico, Principal of New Providence High School. "At this time, the overall plan is not specific enough in terms of expectations and timelines to fully appreciate how it will affect what we do at the high school. Hopefully, specific guidelines will be coming in the near future to give a clearer picture. We continue to be committed to providing the best possible opportunities and education for students."

Dr. Nathan Parker, Superintendent of Summit schools, was less supportive.

"Unfortunately, there's no research that all this testing increases achievement, so I'm not so sure it's the place to emphasize," he said. "However, it's something you live with in this business.

"Standardized testing is a one-shot measure," Parker added. "It doesn't, in general, help achievement. The intent is good to raise standards and raise rigor, but it hasn't always had that impact."

Christie said the proposed exams would ultimately replace the current High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), given for the past decade in 11th and 12th grades as a broader measure of language arts and math skills. The HSPA exams will continue for at least three more years, as will the  the Alternate High School Assessment (AHSA), a controversial oral exam administered to students who didn't pass the HSPA exam.

Proponents of the AHSA exam say it's a fair test that students with learning or language difficulties have a chance of passing. Critics, however, claim the AHSA is nothing more than a social-promotion loophole that gets poor-performing students out of the district while padding graduation rates.  

This week, Christie and Cerf reported a new methodology that determines that 83 percent of New Jersey's Class of 2011 will graduate. They said the numbers are more accurate than the last year's graduation rate of 95 percent, which was the highest in the country. The numbers were skewed, the pair said, because the stats were primarily reported by the districts themselves.

But one thing appears certain, that many New Jersey high school students enter the workforce ill-prepared to compete with a well-educated population.  Even today's auto mechanics need to have the reading comprehension of a college junior, say some educational experts, to master auto-maintenance manuals that are essentially computer-diagnostics textbooks. 

In fact, many families now consider a college degree a necessity -- not an option -- for a young person entering the workforce.  according to the U.S. Census Bureau, in a report titled "The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings" high school graduates can expect, on average, to earn $1.2 million in their lifetimes, roughly half what those with a bachelor's degree will earn - $2.1 million.

With this in mind, effective educational preparation in high school means students can successfully obtian college degrees while poor high school preparation will create obstacles, increase drop-out rates and prevent some students from ever obtaing a college degree.

"Unfortunately, just a little over half — 56 percent — of students who enroll in four-year institutions earn a bachelor’s degree within six years," reports CollegeBoard.org in their State Policy Guide on College Completion (9). "Several factors increase the likelihood that a student will drop out of college [including] weak academic preparation. . . . Each year, one million students fail college placement tests, and more than one-third of all students enroll in remedial education. At community colleges, 43 percent of students enroll in at least one remedial course to learn what they should have learned in secondary school."

This data supports Christie's and Cerf's contention that New Jersey high school students should be academically better prepared when they graduate, but it still doesn't answer the big question: How?

Nor does it address a host of other issues that go with large-scale policy changes.  As Clark resident, Robert F. Galgano, said when he heard about the plan, "What happens if the kids don't pass the tests?  Do they have to take the courses over?  Will we see high school students on the five- or even six-year plan?"

What do you think?  Share your comments about Christie's new idea, and how it may affect the future of public-school education in New Jersey.