If you are a junior or senior facing a graduation test, you may have wondering just whose bright idea it was to begin with. Or, you may be old enough to have been one of the first to take a graduation test, but you didn’t know then, and still aren’t really sure now, of just how these “thorns in a student’s side” came to be. Below is a very brief history of graduation tests. It addresses the “high points,” and should not be considered an all-inclusive discussion of the topic.
You may be surprised to know that graduation tests are not a new concept. In fact, the first graduation exams were given after the Civil War. They were given as a result of the Regents Board of the State of New York requiring them.
It was not until the late 1990s, however, that graduation tests were again brought to people’s attention. That was when the National Center on Education and Economy, specifically Marc Tucker of that agency, drafted a proposal for a “Certificate of Initial Mastery.” This proposal was the basis for many states that had begun to introduce their own education reform legislation.
It was felt that graduation exams were needed to ensure that a performance standard for education was being set for all students. The idea was to see that this standard was met by the age of sixteen. It was intended for national establishment; that is, to be adopted by every state, and to be considered a benchmark for high-standards education.
Not passing a graduation exam does not mean a person cannot obtain a higher education. A GED, along with an admissions test conducted by the school, may be all that is required for admission into some online universities. You can learn more about this at websites such as earnmydegree.com.
