Mom! I didn't pass the High School Exit Exam? CRAP!

So, here is the story, you are about to graduate, you have plans, you are talking to colleges for education, or recruiters in the military etc. Oh, and you had an awesome graduation party that was ... well it just was.

Now you get your results and things come to a screeching halt. You look and you see that you miss the exam by either a little of a lot. You say a couple of nasty words, stomp around or just start screaming at your little brother, sister (or both) and you kick the dog (wow, you are angry). What do you do?

Here is the deal. First, understand that in most cases you can do a couple of things to get your diploma. You can continue to take the tests and hopefully you pass it the next time it is offered. Or, you can rush down and see if you can talk to the local Adult Education class teacher and talk about taking the GED test to get your paper (not highly recommended, but an option). Or if you received your information prior to graduation you can choose not to walk and come back for another semester, take a class or two in the area where you messed up at and retake the test with the new knowledge that you have "relearned" or learned.

All those are real options. But, there are others.

The high school graduation exam is offered in 25 states around the country. They are (Wikipedia list of states with high school exams):

State Administrating agency Test name Also called... Alabama Alabama State Department of Education Alabama High School Graduation Exam AHSGE Alaska Alaska Department of Education and Early Development High School Graduation Qualifying Examination HSGQE Arizona Arizona Department of Education Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards AIMS Arkansas Arkansas Department of Education Augmented Benchmark Examinations California California Department of Education California High School Exit Examination CAHSEE Florida Florida Department of Education Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test FCAT Georgia Georgia Department of Education Georgia High School Graduation Test GHSGT Indiana Indiana Department of Education Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus I-STEP+ Louisiana Louisiana Department of Education Graduate Exit Examination GEE Maryland Maryland Department of Education High School Assessment HSA Massachusetts Massachusetts Department of Education Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS Minnesota Minnesota Department of Education Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments—Series II MCA-II Missouri Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Missouri Assessment Program MAP Nevada Nevada Department of Education Nevada Proficiency Examination Program NPEP New Jersey New Jersey Department of Education High School Proficiency Assessment HSPA New Mexico New Mexico Public Education Department New Mexico Standards-based assessment NMSBA New York New York State Department of Education Regents Examinations Regents North Carolina North Carolina Department of Public Instruction End of Course Tests (Grades 9-12) EOCs Ohio Ohio State Board of Education Ohio Graduation Test OGT South Carolina South Carolina Department of Education High School Assessment Program (Grades 9-12) HSAP Tennessee Tennessee Department of Education Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program TCAP Texas Texas Education Agency Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills TAKS Virginia Virginia Department of Education Standards of Learning SOL
This list tells of all the states that take Exit Exams. If you are in one of these states these are the rules set up by your school board / state department of education / district. So the other question should be right about now is, "...hey, what about the other 25 states?" Good question Gadfly, good question. The other 25 states do not either have a test, or have some type of procedure that they are reviewing in order to either have a test or not. That means that until they do, they do not have a test and you could possibly use this to get what you want. Now your next question should be is, "....okay, cut to the chase. How?" Once again, good question Grasshopper! What you need to do is do find out which of these places has an online school that is either tuition free, reasonable or if they accept out side transcripts. Your plan is to contact a counselor at one of the states that does not have a state exit exam and communicate your situation to them. An example of this is North Dakota Center for Distance Education or ndcde.org. Once you contact them up you need to have a "conversation" with these people and explain to them what your situation is. That means you do not need to go into detail about the test questions or what you did last summer, rather you need to be concise, clear and have a method and a rationale as to "WHY" you are contacting these people. The reason "WHY" you are contacting these people is you need to get a diploma and you have plans that you need to get to. When you talk to these fine people they will instruct you to forward a sealed or possibly certified, or even a fax copy (not sure about that one) to their number. An evaluation professional will look it over and determine if you can graduate from their school with the current classes (most likely not). What possibly could happen is you have to take a one to two credit class that will allow theme to complete their requirements for their state and then once you are done you will get a diploma from NDCDE or wherever. Basic questions that you may ask: Will you have to attend class there? Uhhh, no! It is a distance school and you do it online. Are there costs for the class that you may have to take? Probably. Check with the counselor and they can instruct you on the cost. How long does it take? As long as you need or as fast as you want. I would recommend doing it right and not having to do it again. Is there a graduation test? Are you kidding? We just went over this! No, there is no test. How does the diploma get to me? In the mail! Here is a group that comes right and tells you exactly what I have just told you. Plus it is really flashy and nice looking: CVE Program. These folks are located in the warm fun in the sun place of Florida (jerks, here we are in the lingering months of springs and they are at the beach). But, look through there stuff and you can see for yourself. Last thing, accreditation. Look for groups that have symbols like, Advanced Ed accreditation, and the government themselves do a pretty good job listing resources as well. Make sure that you are constantly documenting this process and that you have a clear place to refer to your notes and all the contact names and number that you will need. Finally, there is no need to panic. Take your time, THINK, and you can accomplish anything. A test is only a means to validate an area of learning - it does not and will not dictate your future if you do not let it. rebel educator learn regardless...