RE: Exemptions to STAR and other standardized testing

One of the concerns I expressed at Sen. Murray's hearing tonight was based on my experience in Chicago, where the city colleges ran adult ed. The regular high schools had a 70% drop-out/force-out rate for Black and Latino (then mostly Puerto Rican) students. Two-three years later they would be back looking to adult ed to obtain h.s. diplomas (older and perhaps wiser). We don't want to go in that direction in CA. Adult education programs already allow as much as 30% of regular h.s. grads to graduate with their classes. Testing that creates 'failures' is pedagogically unsound. Assessment need to be ongoing and part of a feedback mechanism that provides resources, coursework, and whatever is needed to overcome the educational deficits exposed by the assessment.