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Remediation for Exit-Exam Failure Proves Daunting

States vexed in helping students who stumble on tests for graduation.

Nearly half the states require high school students to pass exit exams to graduate, but they often lack reliable ways of helping those who fail. Facing the prospect of legions of nongraduates, educators are feeling the pressure to figure out how to assist teenagers who have stumbled at the high-stakes gate.

Few studies have been done on the best approaches to remediation for students who have failed their exit exams. But the clues emerging from those studies, and from other experiences in the field, are yielding early guidance.

Experts say the focus on requiring exit exams has largely overshadowed the issue of what to do when...