High-Stakes Testing, High School Graduation, and Limited English Proficient Students: A Case Study.

ABSTRACT The educational accountability systems of both the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and the state of Florida (as of 1999) were modeled after Texas' system, despite its flaws. NCLB reaches for all students to achieve academic proficiency and designates students with limited English proficiency (LEP) as an important subgroup. As we work with NCLB, the situation in Florida can be illustrative for other states. This case study examines circumstances for LEP students in Florida's system to inform educators and policymakers nationwide. More specifically the purpose of this case study was to examine (a) Florida's high-stakes testing requirements for LEP students; (b) trends in reported LEP students' grade 10 test scores; (c) options for LEP students who do not pass the high-stakes test; and (d) Florida's drop-out rate, especially for LEP students. Investigations revealed that the Florida Department of Education: (a) Follows the U.S. Department of Education's (USDOE) directive in reporting the scores of LEP students for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for NCLB, which can inflate aggregated test scores of LEP students, thereby also inflating aggregated scores of standard curriculum students; (b) Maintains state policies that encourage LEP students to drop out of high school; and (c) Allows policies that can results in a deflation of the reported drop-out rate. The importance of results for other states and educational agencies is discussed. Keywords: NCLB, drop-out codes, drop-out rate, LEP students, FCAT, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, graduation rate, exit exams, high school graduation, high-stakes testing, limited English proficiency The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 mandated educational accountability that has been both lauded and criticized. The accountability requirements of NCLB were based largely on Texas' educational accountability system, the justification seeming to be that Texas' success in educational gains would provide a model for the nation (Haney, 2000; Reyes, 2008; Watt, Powell, Mendiola, & Cossio, 2006; White, n.d.). However, multiple research studies have shown that Texas' system has been fraught with problems, in part due to the pressures associated with Texas' system, including the exclusion of low-performing students from testing and from school, large and sudden increases in the number of students entering special education programs, high rates of retention in 9th grade that resulted in sharp increases in test scores for 1 0th graders the following year, drastic increases in the number of high school students entering GED programs, significantly higher dropout rates, and increased inequity for minority students. Furthermore, claimed educational gains did not hold up in comparisons with the state's criterion-referenced subtests, relevant high school grades, and lowstakes test results (Haney, 2000, 2001; Heilig & Darling-Hammond, 2008; McSpadden, McNeil, Rad igan, Vazquez, 2008; Valenzuela, 2005). Regardless, since 2002, the trend seems to be for high school exit exams to become high-stakes tests in many states. Sixteen more states have required passing an exit exam to earn a high school diploma, and twentytwo more states use the exit exam for accountability purposes under NCLB (Center on Educational Policy, 2009). This movement toward a more restrictive use of the high school exit exam has been happening even though there is little indication that more stringent requirements lead to increased job opportunities or academic performance in college (CEP, 2009). Florida's A+ Plan for Education, approved prior to NCLB by the Florida legislature in 1999 (Florida Department of Education, 2004; Florida House of Representatives, 1999), also mirrors that of the Texas educational accountability system. Given that Florida's plan has been in place longer than NCLB, an examination of some of the results in Florida can further inform educators and policymakers nationwide. …