3rd grade exit exam: Another top-down high-stakes test?

March 16, 2004

First came New York City, where mayor Bloomberg announced that they'd end social promotion in elementary schools by hanging a "The Buck Stops Here" sign on all 3rd grade classrooms. Students who don't pass standardized tests at the end of 3rd grade won't be promoted to 4th.

Now Iowa is considering legislation to do the same, about which Kimberly Swygert has an excellent blow-by-blow analysis. Cedar Pundit, who provided some commentary on this issue, says "Allowing children to advance to another grade level without the ability or skills to do the work is nothing short of child abuse."

Our feelings on 3rd grade exit exams are mixed. On the one hand, we agree with Cedar Pundit: children lacking skills for their grade level shouldn't be promoted to the next grade simply because they're a year older. All this does is set the child up for failure, which will become exponentially worse.

On the negative side we're not enamored with the whole top-down, high-stakes testing scene.

It plays out like this:

• Begin with the status quo, which permits appalling levels of failure.
• Ossified educrats finally sit up and take notice, usually after decades of inaction.
• By fiat, they declare that a new standardized test will be used to determine pass or failure.
• Teachers and schools bristle with resentment.

It's not the fault of the tests--ostensibly they're simply being used as an information-gathering device--but rather with the abrupt imposition of the tests. Of course, anytime the rules of a game are changed when the game is in session, resentment is bound to flow.

Our suggestion is to not impose a new testing regime overnight, but rather, use tests as a tool to help schools genuinely meet the new goal, with the high-stakes part being phased in.

The Iowa plan seems to do this, with the 3rd-grade exit exam being implemented three years from now. In other words, students who are kindergarten now will be the first students expected to pass the third grade exit exam. That should be enough time to give them the knowledge and skills they'll need to do well on the exam.

We also suggest that tests be used as a diagnostic tool, rather than purely in a high-stakes fashion. For example, why not test the kids in second grade as well? This information would be valuable to schools so they can know on which students they need to focus their efforts, for the important third grade test a year later.

Cincinnati is doing just that. In an article published three years ago (from which we gleaned the above picture), the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the city has a "third grade guarantee" which ensures that all graduating third graders can read before being promoted to fourth grade. Not only that, but the test is given to all second and third graders. This makes perfect sense, for no school will be caught unawares.

The bottom line is we want our children to be on grade level before moving to the next grade. Standardized tests, if utilized effectively, can be a tool to help provide us with the information we need to focus our efforts.