Op-ed: Putting New Jersey's High School Diplomas to the Test

The following is an editorial written by Stan Karp and published by NJSpotlight.com:

There were more than 100,000 ninth-graders in New Jersey public schools this past year, and they all had one thing in common: None of them knows what they have to do to graduate.

While the state’s new teacher evaluation system is grabbing most of the attention, coming changes in state testing policies may have an even more dramatic impact. New and harder tests are on the way, and the bar for a high school diploma is about to become a moving target.

According to the NJ Department of Education, the state’s current high school graduation tests – the High School Proficiency Assessment and the Alternative High School Assessment – are scheduled for elimination when the class of 2015 graduates. Students who were freshmen this past school year -- the graduating class of 2016 -- will be the first to face new tests aligned with the Common Core standards.

Continue reading on NJSpotlight.com.