The New Mexico high school class lauded last week for increased graduation rates was not required to take a high stakes exit exam. The Albuquerque Journal reports that a bill passed and signed in spring 2011 gave students a one-year reprieve from a difficult exit test.
Last week, Gov. Susana Martinez announced that New Mexico's 2012 four-year high school graduation rate jumped to 70 percent just a year after federal data showed the state's 63 percent rate was one of the worst in the nation. Martinez said the improvement in just a year's time was evidence that New Mexico schools could provide the needed services to help students graduate.
State officials downplayed the test difference and said the graduation gains were genuine.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.