States that have graduation tests for the high school class of 2020: Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia, a total of 11. Some allow appeals or alternatives. This list includes states where students must pass end of course tests (EOCs) in order to graduate, but not where an EOC just counts as part of a course grade.
Recently ended grad tests: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada,Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Washington.
Moratorium on exit exams: Pennsylvania (2020; it has repeatedly been pushed back a year or two).
Retroactively awarded diplomas to students who had not passed exams: Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, and Texas. Mississippi has an appeals process allowing students who did not pass the previous exit exam to receive diplomas. South Carolina allowed those who did not pass to appeal to their local school boards through the end of 2015.
Recently reduced number or weight of tests:
- Mississippi requires minimum test scores, though somewhat low test scores can be combined with higher grades to allow graduation.
- Tennessee, Nevada and Georgia replaced graduation tests with end-of-course (EOC) tests that factor into student course grades but which students do not have to pass. Other states such as North Carolina have similar EOC requirements.
- Texas reduced its plan for 15 required exit tests to five in 2013, then added the right for students to use an alternative for up to two of the five if they fail them.
- Indiana in 2017 passed legislation to allow multiple pathways to graduation in addition to end-of-course tests. Effectively, students do not have to pass a test to earn a diploma, though how easy or hard that will be remains to be seen, including the use of a ‘locally determined’ option.
