Exit Scramble

This from Ed Week:

States that rushed to tie high school graduation

to passing a high-stakes test

now face pressure to come up with alternatives,

even as critics warn against a dilution of standards.

A decade-long push by states to make high school students pass an exit exam before getting their diplomas has stalled as politically sensitive student-failure rates contribute to a growing public backlash against high-stakes testing.

Though 26 states have adopted such mandates—most of them since 2000—that number has remained static since last year, according to a report ...[released] this week by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization that has tracked the trend for the past seven years...