Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public instruction

Tom Torlakson, country superintendent of public instruction

Tom Torlakson
October xi, 2015

Updated:  October 14, 2015.

California's education system is transforming in positive ways. Replacing the high schoolhouse exit exam with more modern and meaningful measures is a critical part of that piece of work.

Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Neb 172 into constabulary, suspending the California High Schoolhouse Exit Exam (CAHSEE) as a requirement for high school graduation for the next three years. Information technology as well requires schoolhouse districts to grant diplomas to students who in the past were denied one solely because they did not pass the exam. I was proud to sponsor this neb, and I deeply capeesh state Senator Ballad Liu, D-Pasadena, for bringing forrad this urgently needed legislation.

The state Legislature created the leave test requirement in 1999, and schools began using the test a few years subsequently. Since and so, however, the world – and California's teaching system – have changed dramatically.

Nosotros take instituted new, more rigorous state academic standards. We have launched a more sophisticated cess of student progress using online, computer-adaptive tests. And, we are moving toward a more comprehensive evaluation of schools that uses multiple measures instead of a single examination score.

The current version of the get out exam was always meant to exist temporary, according to the author of the legislation establishing it. Eliminating the former high school go out test provides a great opportunity to develop a more than effective approach to supporting our students. We must make sure that our loftier school graduates are set up for college and careers in the 21st century.

Students need a variety of skills to succeed in today'due south economy. Our methods of gauging their progress should incorporate multiple measures. SB 172 requires me to convene a task force of teachers, parents, students, administrators and others to report back on new high schoolhouse graduation requirements.

I look frontward to exploring the options. One possibility is a senior or "capstone" project, in which students demonstrate what they have learned in an oral report, a paper or an exhibition. Some other option is integrating customs service into this work, so that our students learn "civics in action."

In addition, a pupil could demonstrate career readiness by completing an internship at a local company, government agency, or nonprofit, and so producing a study most a potential career pathway. And a district may choose some combination of these approaches, customized to local conditions.

The search for a new high school graduation requirement is similar to our work developing a new accountability system. In both cases, we're reinvigorating our schools by replacing 20th-century models with more than thoughtful, contemporary 21st-century approaches.

As for the accountability system, the previously used Academic Functioning Index has been suspended, and I have convened a task force to make recommendations for a new accountability organization. The Accountability and Continuous Improvement Task Force is co-chaired by Wes Smith of the Clan of California Schoolhouse Administrators and Eric Heins of the California Teachers Association.

The task forcefulness will study the issue and make recommendations early next year. Any new organisation should promote continuous improvement and amend place the needs of schools and then they can receive the resources they need to improve.

On Sept. ix, the state released results of the new, online Smarter Balanced assessments in English and math. Certainly, those results will be part of whatsoever new accountability system, but the task force will consider other areas every bit well, including graduation rates, school attendance, chronic absenteeism, career readiness and school climate.

These are exciting times in California education. Nosotros go along to introduce and evolve. Finding new, more dynamic approaches to the high school get out exam and schoolhouse accountability are two key components of transforming our schools and ensuring California'south bright future.

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Tom Torlakson is the state superintendent of public education.

Editor'due south Annotation:  The updated version of this commentary clarifies that SB 172 suspends the CAHSEE for the next three years,  but does not eliminate it permanently.

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