Standards and School Dropouts: A National Study of Tests Required for High School Graduation

Abstract

This article reports a study of minimum competency testing in American secondary schools. The analysis focuses on tests that students must pass before they receive the high school diploma. The effects of these tests on low-achieving high school students are explored. A particular concern is the possibility that test failure may reduce academic aspirations and thereby contribute to decisions to drop out of school. The study is based on a series of in-depth interviews with educators and school administrators in selected states, and on data collected face-to-face with more than 700 high school students. In one cluster of findings, the reports of test coordinators, school principals, and school counselors provide consistent echoes of a conventional wisdom that has enveloped high school exit exams: the belief that required competency tests are now so rudimentary that they cannot present much of a barrier to school completion. But at the same time, these educators report with uniform consistency that they do not have specific data on the question of dropout inducement. In contrast, the students report experiences that pose a credible challenge to this conventional wisdom. Despite a strong majority of students claiming competency-testing policies to be beneficial for a variety of reasons, we found that initial test failers are significantly more likely to express doubts about their chances of completing the diploma. In a fully specified general model that predicts self-reported chances of finishing high school, failing all or part of a required exit test is a robust independent contributor to doubts about the prospects of graduating. Along with test performance, this model assesses the effects of earlier grade retention, academic performance, peer culture, and family background on confidence in finishing school. Implications of the findings for research, policy-making, and educational practice are explored.