| Balancing the demands of the Louisiana Graduate Exit Exam for the Twenty-first Century (GEE 21) with state mandated high school career education is a challenge facing many educators. This study examined the perceptions of selected high school principals, counselors, and department heads from three Louisiana parishes regarding the requirements of the GEE 21 and their impact, if any, on high school students' career education opportunities.;The study was a qualitative cross-case design, using narrative non-fiction story method to uncover the experiences, attitudes, and feelings of nine principals, counselors, and department heads in three selected Louisiana parishes. Triangulation of information from interviews, observations, and archival documentation resulted in emergent themes of attitudes toward the GEE 21, the effects of passing the GEE 21, the effects of failing the GEE 21, implementation of the 5-year Plan of Louisiana's Career Options Law, the consideration of recent high school reform initiatives, and the implementation of high school career education. This research was believed to be critical for the education community to begin to closely exam the impact of high stakes testing on high school students' post secondary college and career planning and success. |
