Exit exams trip up walk for some

June 3,2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - By Saturday night, hundreds of Mat-Su seniors will have walked across graduation stages this week, wearing long gowns and mortarboards, to receive official recognition for their academic work.

In order to graduate in Alaska with a high school diploma, however, students must both earn 21 course credits and successfully pass the state's High School Graduation Qualifying Exam.

This year, 62 out of roughly 980 Mat-Su School District seniors, failed to pass the graduation exam. Another 217 students were still working, Thursday, to finish course credits in time to graduate.

The graduation exam, which is first administered in the 10th grade, measures reading, writing and math skills at the 10th-grade level. Students must pass each portion of the exam in order to receive a diploma. Legislators approved the exam in 1997 as a way to ensure a standard minimum level of academic proficiency before students receive diplomas.

Students get two chances to pass the exam each year, for three years. After their senior year, students can always come back and take the exam again for as many years as it takes to pass and receive their official diplomas.

Successful completion of the exam alone, however, does not entitle students to a high school diploma. They must also complete all 21 course credits in high school.

As of Wednesday evening, 767 students had completed all course work, with more than 200 others still working to finish work before their school's graduation ceremonies.

"Some are finished today and others are finishing up their course work," said Connie Lutz, the Mat-Su Borough School District's executive director of curriculum and assessment. Speaking to the Mat-Su Borough School Board on Wednesday night, Lutz said the final number of students completing course work is still unknown.

"The number was changing hourly," she said.

Students who complete all their course work but don't pass the graduation exam are still eligible to participate in graduation ceremonies this week, but they receive a "certificate of achievement" instead of a high school diploma.

"The next step for these students is that they would be able to come back and take the exam again in October," Lutz said Wednesday. "We had some students this year that we referred to as 12-plus because they can come back to take the exam for as long as they need to.

"The state school board changed the state statute last year to allow unlimited chances to pass the exam."

Students who passed the graduation exam but failed to finish their course credits before the graduation ceremony will not be able to participate. Those students could still receive a diploma if they finish their credits by June 30, the end of the graduation year.

The graduation exam is a requirement for most graduating students, but not all. So far this year, 28 students have received exam waivers from the school board for a range of reasons.

Students who successfully passed similar exams in other states don't have to take the Alaska exam.

In addition, students who moved to Alaska less than two years before graduation don't have to take the Alaska exam. Certain special-education students are also exempt, for this year only, if they did not receive adequate preparation and instruction. Five exam waivers were approved Wednesday by the school board.

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266, or joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.