OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The number of high school exit exams students see could be reduced, as Washington's State Superintendent plans to propose changes to the Legislature in January.
Students in the class of 2012 were required to pass two exit exams, but the class of 2015 will have to pass five.
State superintendent Randy Dorn says five exit exams is too many and too expensive.
The cost of the state assessment system is high, both in terms of time and money. Exit exams are estimated to be $30 each. If students don't pass one or more of these exams, the state provides other ways for students to demonstrate their abilities, such as the Collection of Evidence (COE). The COE is a portfolio of classroom work prepared by the student with instructional support from a teacher. The COE is currently $400 per student in each content area.
The five exit exams the class of 2015 students will have to pass are reading high school proficiency exam (HSPE), writing HSPE, biology end-of-course (EOC), algebra I EOC and geometry EOC.
In January, Dorn will propose to reduce the five required tests to three - reading/writing HSPE, biology EOC and algebra I EOC.
