Understanding the Policy Context of High School Exit Exams: A Review of the Literature from 2006 to 2018. Working Paper

The Kentucky Board of Education is currently considering changes to Kentucky's high school graduation requirement policy to address concerns that Kentucky students are not graduating with the skills necessary to ensure their success after high school. A key component of this policy change would require students to pass a high school exit exam before receiving a diploma. Empirical evidence from studies examining exit exams demonstrates that choices made when crafting the policy and establishing the exam may greatly affect the success of the policy and should be carefully considered. This literature review in this report synthesizes evidence addressing characteristics of the Kentucky exit exam policy. These characteristics include: (1) student outcomes of underperforming and underserved populations; (2) level of exit exam difficulty; (3) inclusion of multiple subject areas in exit exams; and (3) inclusion of alternative pathways to graduation.