public highschool students ought not be required to pass exit exams to graduate

I stand to affirm the resolution that Public high school students in the United States ought not be required to pass standardized exit exams to graduate. To create a boundary for this debate I would like to offer the following definitions: Multiple intelligences- a theory proposed that humans possess more than one type of intelligence in which to learn that was popularized by Dr. Howard Gardner My value for this round will be that of fairness which is defined as the ability to make decisions free from discrimination or dishonesty. With fairness, we can effectively avoid negative consequences of bias in American education. My Standard for this round will be that of equal opportunity. This is defined as Policies and practices in employment and education that promote full participation and do not discriminate against persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, veteran status or sexual orientation. Full participation reduces or limits the possibility of bias in the educational system. I contend that: standardized exams are unacceptable because they are bias against the multiple intelligences Many of today's standardized tests are written so that only white, middle-class, English-speaking Americans can succeed. Standardized tests are multiple-choice and often rely on sequential or mental tasks rather than spatial or visual abilities. Peter Sacs explains What's more, studies of brain asymmetry and cognitive styles of American Indians indicate that, like African Americans, they may rely on right brain, simultaneous mental processing more often than whites. For example, one study of high school students in Hardin, Montana, compared sixty Native American and sixty white students in terms of their relative strengths at sequential and simultaneous mental processing, using the Kaufman Assessment Battery. As expected, the Native American students as a group proved to be significantly more skilled at the simultaneous processing tasks involving such spatial and visual abilities. White students, however, were better as a group at the sequential mental tasks. So as we can see these tests are flawed in that they require left-brain skills that as the study above shows are more common in the white population than of other races. This both denies the students of other ethnic backgrounds their equal opportunity for education because they are unfairly gauged in the education system AND fairness because these tests present a bias of preferring one side of the brain over the other. Tests also, being attributed to one side of the brain, limit the learning abilities of students and the teaching margins of teachers. To clarify I would like to point out the seven intelligences, Linguistic, Logical (what these tests are based on), Bodily/ Kinesthetic. Spatial, Musical, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. The first impact to this is that limiting anyone of these intelligences is a bias of standardized tests. It is a bias because these tests aren't granting students the ability to learn in their own way. By denying this, we are not giving students the equal opportunity for education and thus we are following a flawed system based on bias. The second impact to this is that if students were taught in their own preferred intelligence style, the educational system would prepare them more for the next stage in life in that they would be able to retain more information than if teachers were teaching what will be on the test. Linda McNeil explains Teachers also report that the margins -- those spaces where even in highly regulatory school settings they have always been able to "really teach" -- are shrinking as the accountability system becomes increasingly stringent, with teacher and principal pay tied to student scores. Not being able to teach what they wish to teach is dangerous in that if teachers are so occupied with teaching what will be on the test then the students may not get everything they need from each class. Not teaching what students need to learn in the classroom is not helping them to prepare for the real world. Not being prepared for the real world is dangerous in that students will make life choices they are unprepared to make which can negatively affect them for the rest of their lives. Other aspects of diversity that tests often times don't take into account include: Disabilities-These include physical disabilities, language delays, ADHD, visual impairments, and mental retardation. Also within this we find that most kids don't know they have a disability due to the fact that it's such a minor condition but they still possess the disability. Paul O'Neill explains The impact could be greatest on children who may already face restricted options, such as those in need of special education services. Because of neurological, motor, auditory, visual, or other disabilities, these children often have problems demonstrating their capacities and usually follow a specialized academic program incorporating accommodations tailored to maximize their academic strengths and minimize their weaknesses. As a result, many children with disabilities are focused on meeting the goals established for them in their own individualized educational programs and not on some uniform district or statewide goals. Particularly in instances where children with disabilities are given limited notice and time in which to master the skills to be tested, the imposition of such standardized assessments can amount to a formula for these children to fail. Failing a student due to his or her disabilities is unfair. By imposing standardized tests students of various handicaps will be more likely to fail and not graduate. This is unfairly taking a diploma from a student who may work really well in other ways. This can also be linked to the multiple intelligences, in that if the handicapped learn material in any other way other than logically then that student or students will have major problem assessing information on the exit exam. Language Differences-Often students, who are not native English speakers or have trouble with reading comprehension in general, have trouble on timed exams because they need more time to interpret the English language. Most standardized tests are timed and do not give students who have difficulty with the English language the extra time they need. Jennifer Rowe explains As a result of faulty development processes, a student's performance on these tests may reflect that student's disability. For example, standardized tests like exit exams assume that each student taking the test will read it in the same manner. However, research proves that some students with learning disabilities cannot process words like other students can. Some of these students feel like they are encountering a word for the first time every time they read it. So, just the process of reading the exam can be a slow and tiring one. Content is often lost because the process of reading becomes the focus. The student then struggles just to read the test and does not concentrate on answering the questions. Thus, the student's disability, rather than ability, is assessed. This is by no means fair in that students' performance is being gauged on a flawed sysystem that assumes that everyone is taking the test in the same manner. This assumption denies equal opportunity in education by using a bias system to gauge students' performance. This system cannot bring about fairness because it is putting those students without disabilities over those that do.