Nine out of 10 high school seniors passed the California High School Exit Exam by the time their class graduated this past spring, according to data released Tuesday by the state.
The passing rate of 90.2 percent for 2008's graduating class was down from last year's 94 percent. However, this was the first year that students receiving special education services were required to pass the exam to receive a diploma, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said. Among special education students, 53.8 percent passed the exam, up from 49.6 percent last year.
O'Connell noted that certain groups of students, including African Americans, Latinos and English learners, continued to have lower passing rates than white and Asian teenagers, punctuating a "persistent achievement gap."
As a state senator, O'Connell wrote the legislation that created the California High School Exit Exam, known as CAHSEE (pronounced "kay-see") in schools. It was signed by former Gov. Gray Davis in 1999 as a part of an effort to bring greater accountability to public schools.
The exam covers mathematics and English-language arts, with some of the questions covering middle-school level material and some reaching through the 10th-grade level. Students have multiple opportunities to pass it, starting in 10th grade.
See results for 10th-graders at your high school, and compare schools in your state.
O'Connell said Tuesday that he has had preliminary discussions with business, education and political leaders about making the exam more rigorous.
"Nothing is imminent," the superintendent said, but he views the exit exam as the capstone of the state's accountability system and would like to see the math and English-language arts sections beefed up eventually.
The exit exam became mandatory two years ago, with the graduating class of 2006. For school districts, it has been a huge challenge. In many cases, students take the test numerous times before passing, while others never succeed.
Forcing special education students, who make up about 10 percent of the student population, to take and pass the exam for a diploma has been an especially thorny issue across the state.
Locally, districts have embraced the effort. In the Elk Grove Unified School District, for example, 94 percent of the class of 2008 passed the exit exam by graduation time this past spring, up two percentage points over last year. And 70 percent of Elk Grove's special education students – five percentage points more than last year – met the threshold this year, said Bill Tollestrup, director of special education in Elk Grove.
Most special education students required to take the exit exam have learning disabilities, Tollestrup said. Under state and federal law, students who are profoundly disabled with severe cognitive delays are not required to take the exit exam because they are not pursuing a traditional diploma. Instead, they work toward a certificate of completion.
Call The Bee's Deb Kollars, (916) 321-1090.
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