Example research essay topic: California State Law On High School Exit Examinations - 929 words

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By law, school districts must implement an exit examination to any and all 12 th grade students. It is the schools responsibility to have resources on the schools site for students to access in preparation for the exit examination. The superintendent of each district will take it upon himself / herself to maintain this process. It is also under the superintendent that he / she shall study the appropriateness of other criteria by which high school pupils who are regarded as highly proficient but unable to pass the high school exit examination may demonstrate their competency and receive a high school diploma. The exit examination will be based upon information gathered in field testing and annual administrations of the examination and shall include the analysis of the students performance, the examination effects that it has on college attendance, drop out rates, and graduation.

Any students whose first language is not English or who do not have a working knowledge of the English language; shall have the exit examination deferred for 24 months, where the student must be enrolled in courses in reading, writing, and comprehension in the English language for about six months. Without the proper instruction, if the student does not pass the exit examination, he or she will not be allowed to get a high school diploma and / or graduate. The exit examination will be covered under the Budget Act and the superintendent will contribute funds for the examination. The state board of education will establish the funding for each of the examinations that will be administered based upon how much each examinations cost. Finally, the high school exit examination will be offered to students in the 9 th grade at the beginning of the school year, and each student will take the exit examination during the 10 th grade school year. The student has the possibility to take the exit examination each succeeding school year thereafter, until the each of the sections of the examination has been completed and passed.

The exit examination will be offered in all public high schools that have grades 9 through 12 on dates that are specially designated by the superintendent for the examination. This law forces adolescents to improve their academic achievement above and beyond what they would normally try to strive for. Adolescents who were early maturer's, especially girls, will have a difficult time with this added pressure. Early maturing females have a low self-esteem and tend to do poorly in their academics as compared to girls who are late maturing females. Depending on the adolescents information processing, is how they will do on the exit examination. If the student (adolescent) does not decode the information properly into their long-term memory, they will have a difficult time recalling that information.

The adolescent can do a number of strategies to improve their encoding, so that when the time comes, they may recall the information from their short-term or long-term memory. Not all students are good at taking tests. Their cognitive development may not be completely developed. According to Piaget, the adolescent may be stuck in the concrete operational stage and unable to process certain facts. The adolescent may not be able to think abstractly, idealistically, and logically enough to process the information. Being forced to complete a high school exit examination puts more pressure on the adolescent who is having a hard time with self-concept and self-identity.

Classmates may put more added pressure on the adolescent, because if they cannot match or meet the expectations of they peer group, the adolescent may feel incompetent and therefore have a lower self-esteem. The adolescents up bringing may contribute to the factor. If the parents of the adolescent do not take the exit examination seriously or put much effort / support into the adolescents goals, the adolescent may not take the examination seriously and therefore not passing it. Also, if English is not the adolescents first language, they may feel dumb because they must have the examination postponed while they take English courses.

This can decrease an adolescents self-esteem if their peers make fun of them as well as their parents or any other individual in their lives. In the same case, if the parents view the examination as an important part of learning and helps the adolescent with their studies, then the adolescent will have a better chance of passing the examination. This idea also goes for peer relationships. The adolescent may not have a very good self-identity in the career area. The adolescent may not want or care to go to college and does not view graduating from high school much of a life priority. The adolescent maybe mirroring the parents expectations in life and their values.

On the other hand, an adolescent who has parents that value an education will more likely be willing to try their hardest and best in passing the exit examination in order to graduate and enroll into a good college. On more personal note, I remember taking something that was similar to the exit examination. I was stressed about it, because I knew that I did awful on tests regardless of who well I knew the subject. It was hard for me, but I studied hard for it.

I can understand how adolescents can feel down upon themselves because of being forced to take this examination. I felt stupid compared to my peers, even though I passed the examination and I did very well on it. So, I think that it is entirely depending on the adolescents temperament and how they see the examination.

Research essay sample on California State Law On High School Exit Examinations