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State board approves exit exam for special education students
STORY TOOLS
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SACRAMENTO The state Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved Superintendent Jack O'Connell's recommendation to require students with disabilities to pass the California High School Exit Exam to receive a diploma.
The board's decision will make several changes to the process that students in special education must go through if they pass the test using modifications, such as having the test read aloud or using a calculator.
But members of the public, including teachers, advocates and special education experts, wanted the board to allow students with disabilities to be freed from having to pass the test.
They said those students who have learning disabilities, autism, deafness, mental retardation and a host of other conditions should be allowed to show a portfolio of their work instead of taking the standardized exam that tests 10th-grade-level English and middle school math plus algebra.
The board's recommendation now goes to the Legislature, which will make the final decision on whether students with disabilities must pass the test to graduate from California public high schools.
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