Exit Exams May Bar Many Oklahoma Students From Graduation

The Tulsa (OK) World (3/21, Archer) reports that hundreds of high school seniors in Oklahoma are "in limbo over whether they will graduate from high school this spring with the rest of their classmates" because despite having passed their classes, they have yet to pass the state's exit exams in four out of seven required courses. "The class of 2012 is the first group of students to face the state graduation requirement passed by lawmakers in 2005 as part of Achieving Classroom Excellence - or ACE - legislation." The paper quotes a transition interventionist at an Oklahoma high school saying that while the law was intended to hold schools accountable, it is adversely impacting students.