This is intended to be a poll at the start of the high school exit exam debate, to gauge user opinion before most arguments are made in this club.

The main reason I'm against them is because there are many students with good grades who are simply bad test takers. When I was in high school I had an A-B average; however, I was a terrible test taker. My SATs were horrible, I took them three times and my highest combined score was a 920. I know that there are many students with similar issues.

I will save the arguments for the later debate.

Here in the Netherlands you have to make 4 tests for each subject in the last year of high school. The school makes the first 3 tests, all about 1/3 of the total subject. The last test is a national one (level based), containing everything regarding the subject. The 3 tests the school makes, make up 50% of your grade, the final test the other 50%.

I think this is a good system to assure that everyone who leaves high school has the same knowledge about a subject. That also makes the transition to college/university easier.

That sounds like an interesting system. I like how the testing is connected to the course work that the students do in school. We're starting a debate about a different system here: link
but I think your insights would be valuable there, too. One of the things that is different is the extent to which school funding and the student learning experience varies based on the exam results (the test is first presented during the third year before high school graduation, then again repeatedly during the following two years if the student doesn't pass, with specialized education to accompany it).

I don't believe that tests are an accurate representation of whether or not a student has actually learned what it is they're spouting off. I think there's too many variables (stress, stereotypes, emotional/mental status at the present time, and, as dejadthisvu pointed out, students who simply aren't good test takers) that go into how a student performs on a test.

Do you think, then, that exit exams would be good if these issues could be addressed by changing the format of the exam? That is to say, would you be in favor of exit exams if they were given in such a way as to accurately reflect the ability of the students taking the exam?

Yes. If there were some way to accurately show what a child has learned, and a way to get rid of so many of those variables, I would be for them.