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Education News

Nearly One in Five Texas Students Off Track to Graduate

Those students still need to pass one state test or more.

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Despite fewer graduation requirements, nearly one in five Texas students is not on track to graduate next spring.
 
Students in Texas used to have to pass 15 different exams to graduate high school. Now they only have to pass five end-of-course exams. Those are algebra I, English I and II, biology and U.S. history.

Last year, Texas lawmakers reduced the number of standardized tests students had to pass to graduate high school amid a backlash against standardized testing. It was one of many changes to education to make high school more flexible for students.

But, according to data released by the Texas Education Agency this week, just 81 percent of next year’s graduating class of 2015 has passed all five of those exams.

That means almost 20 percent of those students – or nearly one in five – still hasn’t passed all of them and isn’t on track to graduate next school year.

About 10 percent of those students who are off track just need one exam. The most common one is English II.

They’ll have three more chances to try and pass before graduation next spring. 

These latest results follow other lackluster scores for lower grades indicating students in elementary and middle school are making little progress in basic subjects like reading and math.