Equitable Graduation Outcomes
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For the class of 2017, 15 states—Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and
Washington—required students to pass exit exams, primarily in English language arts and math,
but sometimes in science or social sciences, to graduate from high school.
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The number of
states employing high school exit exams has been trending downward over the past decade. A
general overview of exit examination requirements for the class of 2020 is provided below:
• Only 11 states had graduation exit examinations in place for English Language Arts and
math in 2020 (FL, LA, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NM, NY, OH, TX, and VA)
• 12 states recently ended graduation exit examinations (AR, AZ, CA, GA, ID, IN, MN, NV,
OK, RI, SC, and WA)
• 1 state placed an exit examination moratorium (PA)
• 7 states delivered retroactive diplomas (AK, AZ, CA, GA, NV, SC, and TX)
• 1 state was planning a new series of graduation examinations (CO)
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In 2015 there was a push to include testing of citizenship and civics in diploma requirements.
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Several states have various requirements around citizenship and civics; most recently,
Oklahoma passed a bill in March 2021, mandating that high school students take and pass a
naturalization test before graduation.
The following examples show how two states have adapted, adopted, or changed their exit
exam policies in recent years:
● California postponed its exit exam program for the Classes of 2016 through 2018 and
convened an advisory panel to determine the continuation of the exam beyond these
dates. The test is no longer required but is still offered: if a student passed both sections
of the California High School Proficiency Examination, the California State Board of
Education will award them a Certificate of Proficiency, which by state law is equivalent
to a high school diploma. As noted above, California also made retroactive diplomas
available for students who did not graduate exclusively because of the exit examination
requirement, while it was in place.
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18
Education Commission of the States. (2016, July 26). Response to information request. (https://www.ecs.org/wp-
content/uploads/Exit-Exam-Requirements-for-Class-of-2017_07.26.16.pdf)
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FairTest. (2019, May). Graduation test update: States that recently eliminated or scaled back high school exit
exams (updated May 2019). (https://www.fairtest.org/graduation-test-update-states-recently-eliminated)
20
Education Commission of the States. (2015, June). The civics education initiative of 2015.
(https://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/19/46/11946.pdf)
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Sacramento County Office of Education. (n.d.). About the CHSPE. California High School Proficiency Examination.
(https://www.chspe.org/about)