I would like to see the percentage that pass and fail broken down by ethnicity. I'm guessing some groups will be very low and thus make up about 20% of the high school population.

Not trying to sound racist. Just saying that it is hard to pass basic skills when you are learning a second language...

This percentage means absolutley nothing! Change the test, get 98% success. Change the test, get 77% success.

Bean counters rule the day. IN my state we had to do something similar after 2 years in college. We have a pass rate of 98 to 99%. Some test, eh. Well, it kept the ill-informed ignorant state leg. off of our backs and we continue on now with the same ed. advancements we had before the leg. got involved. The state officials get to go home and run on platforms about how they shaped up our colleges and universities, and we get to continue on with our mission and vision.

Only the public got fleeced: paying for tests that mean nothing. Absolutely nothing!!!

PS -- when the kid fails this easy test we give them 3, yes 3, more chances to pass it. And then we give an oral test... one or two kids a year fail to move on, out of 2000.

Watch out for those tests: they just make some company rich!!

If the test is really an effort to measure competancy, then why do we require sophomore students to continue with two more years of high school if they can already pass the test?

If the test is so easy that a ninth grader can pass it, why are we wasting money on "educating" them in a public school.

If there are students who cannot pass the test after three tries and numerous hours of remediation, what are they doing in school? Obviously, they do not have what it takes upstairs to read, write and figure on a basic skills level.

All interesting questions.

What about students who may struggle with academics but try very hard. Perhaps there should be two or more ways to get a "regular" diploma.

A 20% failure rate is the real news story here, after 13 years of public education and untold efforts to remediate students who do not get it the third, fourth, fifth or sixth time. Something is wrong when the superindendent is congratulating herself after a 20% failure and 13 years of opportunity to make a difference.

Just change the test, passing will improve. Shheeeesss............ do not confuse tests and testing with learning.

nd watch out for the bell shape curve too... the Gaussian curve.

Oh, education has its little secrets. Failure means more funds. More failure, more funds. Less failure? Need more money because we are doing it right and should be rewarded!!

Yes, I am an educator.

The Tribune article shared much more detail of the results. Most, if not all, ethnic groups are doing considerally better this time around, but overall improvement is much smaller. It must be the majority (i.e., white English speakers) who are offsetting those results, keeping the overall 'improvement' from previous years flat or very minimally improved.