EdWeek Chat: Diplomas Count 2007: A Conversation With the Experts

What is the impact of high-stakes testing on the dropout crisis? Particularly high school exit exams. Are there national trends toward multiple measures to demonstrate proficiency, and is there a general agreement that standards are changed with the addition of multiple measures?

James E. Rosenbaum:
This is not my expertise. A very good book by Martin Carnoy, the new accountability, indicates that Texas managed to avoid increasing dropout rate because it used high-stakes testing that required LOW standards. That may have assisted in raising the minimum achievement, which is a desirable goal, but it did not affect higher achieving students. High-stakes with high standards might have undesirable effects on dropouts, as some research has suggested.

Question from William H. Bailey, Ph.D., Geography, Georgia State University:
Do you think that geography and history should be strong threads that permeate elementary, middle, and high school curricula in order to help high school graduates know and know how to know about the world's people and places in view of the globalization phenomenon?

James E. Rosenbaum:
Yes I do. However it is a challenge to make these subjects feel real to students, especially those who have no opportunities to travel

Full chat transcript here: http://www.edweek.org/chat/transcript_06_20_2007.html