US

New Jersey Poised to Eliminate High School Exit Exam, Like Most States

Supporters of tossing the test said students don’t take it seriously and classroom time can be better spent. Critics say we’re making it too easy to graduate.
New Jersey Poised to Eliminate High School Exit Exam, Like Most States
A science teacher works with her students in a high school in Homestead, Fla., on March 10, 2017. Rhona Wise/AFP via Getty Images
Aaron Gifford
|Updated:
0:00

The high school exit exam is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

New Jersey is on track to become the latest state to eliminate the graduation test, which measures 10th-grade proficiency in English and math and is administered to high school juniors. A bipartisan bill ending the requirement passed the state’s General Assembly 55–17 on Dec. 8 and will be considered by the Senate in the coming weeks.
Aaron Gifford
Aaron Gifford
Author
Aaron Gifford has written for several daily newspapers, magazines, and specialty publications and also served as a federal background investigator and Medicare fraud analyst. He graduated from the University at Buffalo and is based in Upstate New York.