26 states have either implemented exit exams or soon will.  President of the Center on Education Policy Jack Jennings says before long nearly three quarters of the country’s students will take exit exams to graduate.  Jennings says other states have faced lawsuits and delayed implementation like California. He says that’s because the exam highlights just how much schools vary:

“When a state comes along and imposes a statewide requirement that all students in all public schools in the state must pass one exam in order to get a high school diploma, it becomes very clear how uneven the playing field is in public education in the United States.”

He says generally when states first implement the exams passage rates are lower, but they improve as students begin to take the requirement seriously.  Roughly ten percent of California seniors have not passed the test this year.