{"id":176422390,"date":"2013-07-18T03:43:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T08:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/?p=176422390"},"modified":"2013-07-18T03:43:20","modified_gmt":"2013-07-18T08:43:20","slug":"education-video-exit-exams-boost-the-school-to-prison-pipeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/2013\/07\/18\/education-video-exit-exams-boost-the-school-to-prison-pipeline\/","title":{"rendered":"EDUCATION + VIDEO: Exit Exams Boost the School to Prison Pipeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

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July 6, 2013<\/p>\n

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Exit Exams Boost <\/span><\/h1>\n

the School to Prison Pipeline<\/span><\/h1>\n

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By\u00a0Anthony Cody<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A new study sheds startling light on\u00a0a strong connection between high school exit exams and rates of incarceration<\/span><\/a>. The authors of the study, Olesya Baker and Kevin Lang, compared states with exit exams to those that did not, and found that roughly one percent of students failed their exit exams and were denied diplomas as a result. This population of young people had a 12.5% increase in their rate of incarceration. The study found no particular benefits, in terms of employment or wages, from the exit exams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Exit exams have been heavily promoted over the past decade or so, supposedly to insure employers of the value of a high school diploma. About half the states in the nation now have an exit exam as a precondition for a diploma, and billions are spent annually on the tests, and preparation for them. A\u00a02009 study by Sean Reardon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0questioned the real value of the California High School Exit Exam, and pointed out that it had a negative effect on some students, especially minority students and girls.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this latest study is the first to chronicle this particular link in the school to prison pipeline. One of the hallmarks of test-driven accountability is the penchant for ranking students, identifying some as academic winners, and others losers. The highest stake manifestation of this is the high school exit exam.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other aspects of the school reform policy agenda also contribute to the school to prison pipeline. Schools under intense pressure to show test score growth are more likely to put in place zero tolerance discipline policies, which result in higher suspension and dropout rates. As we learned fromJohn Merrow’s documentary<\/span><\/a>\u00a0about the New Orleans “miracle,” many of the charter schools there have very strict discipline policies, and the students who fail to comply are sent back to a residual public school that has been all but abandoned. Students who act out are increasingly\u00a0being given psychiatric diagnoses<\/span><\/a>, as early as kindergarten. The expectation that all students reach the same set of academic goals at the same time creates a rigid structure that makes students who are not “on schedule,” or not capable of sitting and receiving information for long periods of time “abnormal.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gates Foundation has been a major force in advocating for standardization and the increased stakes attached to test scores. It was interesting to learn that the Gates Foundation last monthbought a 3.2% share in the global security firm G4S,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0worth $172 million. This company operates for-profit prisons and cash handling services around the world, including several prisons in Israel and its occupied territories.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Advancement Project is one of many groups\u00a0taking on the school to prison pipeline<\/span><\/a>, as seen in this video that describes the problem.<\/span>
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