California High School Exit Exam

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The California High School Exit Exam (or CAHSEE) is a requirement for high school graduation in the state of California, created by the California Department of Education to improve the academic performance of California high school students, and especially of high school graduates, in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics; public school students must pass the exam before they can receive a high school diploma, regardless of any other graduation requirements.[1] The test first applied to the graduating class of 2006, with approximately nine of every ten students passing.[2] The legality of the test continues to be challenged in court.[3]

Contents

[edit] Composition

The CAHSEE is divided into two main sections: English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics.[1] The English section includes 79 multiple choice questions, and requires students to respond to a prompt with a 2 1/2 page essay.[4] The mathematics section consists of 92 multiple choice questions.[5] Scores are scaled out of a possible 450 points on each section. The essay portion is scaled out of one to four (with zeros given in special cases, such as for off-topic or non-English responses).

The English section tests students at a 10th-grade level, and requires a score of 60% to pass; the mathematics section tests students at an 8th-grade level, and requires a score of 55% to pass.[2] Students may take the test the beginning of their sophomore year and only need a retake on the section or sections they have not yet passed.[1]

[edit] Special education

As of October 29, 2006, high school seniors with documented disabilities were allowed certain accommodations to keep those disabilities from becoming an unfair impediment toward proving academic competence. Tests administered with accommodations do not interfere with what the test was designed to measure, or the student's ability to earn a legitimate diploma. If the student does not score the required minimum threshold of 350 for each test, he/she will not receive a diploma.

Anything interfering with what the test was itself originally intended to measure is considered a 'modification', nullifying the results, as it modifies the test measurement (though they are still included in the calculations concerning school performance measures). The purpose, other than considerations for the previously mentioned performance measures, for giving modified tests to students with disabilities, is to keep from isolating those children with special needs from the general population.

If a student has what is determined to be a severe learning disability an alternative test, the CAPA, can be given instead. This was intended to shorten the test for students whose chances of success on the CAHSEE were determined to be extremely low. There is no diploma granted under this condition.

In some, but not all districts, rather than diplomas, Certificates of Completion are granted to those students who do not match the 350 threshold on either test. This signifies completion of the required coursework, but also failure to meet the minimum standards set for English Language Arts and Mathematics.

[edit] History and controversy

The California state legislature passed the CAHSEE into law in 1999, the brainchild of then-state senator Jack O'Connell,[6] and was first taken by volunteer freshmen from the class of 2004, in October 2001. Initially, the test was intended as a graduation requirement for the class of 2004, but the State Board of Education later revised the deadline, focusing on the class of 2006.[1]

As the 2006 deadline neared, political pressure against the exam built up; though O'Connell (now state Superintendent of Public Instruction) resisted such pressure,[6] the state legislature enacted SB517, granting students with learning disabilities a one-year reprieve.[7] Some suggestions included grading students based on a "portfolio of work," and in October 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation which would have allowed students to pass alternative assessments.[8] Supporters of the test have claimed that the large number of failing students brings into question the value of passing grades in California high schools.[9]

As of June 2, 2006, 41,758 members of the California class of 2006, or one of every ten students, were denied diplomas as a result of failing the CAHSEE; this did not include students who had failed to meet other graduation requirements. The passing rate of Asian and Caucasian students was higher than that of Latino and African-American students. Students learning English had the lowest passing rate, with one out of every four failing the exam.[2] In the Los Angeles Unified School District, Superintendent Roy Romer allowed those who did not pass the CAHSEE to participate in graduation activities if the student agreed to take the CAHSEE during the summer.

In May 2006, an Alameda County Superior Court judge struck down the CAHSEE, ruling that students from disadvantaged schools, many of them ethnic and/or poor, had not been appropriately prepared for the test. The California Department of Education appealed the ruling directly to the state Supreme Court,[10] which reinstated the exam and ordered an appeals court to rule on whether the state can legally require students to pass the CAHSEE before receiving diplomas; the appeals court began hearing arguments on July 25, 2006,[3] and upheld the CAHSEE.

[edit] Class of 2007

As of February 2007, 91% of students in the class of 2007 had passed both sections of the exit exam, an increase from the class of 2006.[11] Some districts have reported fewer than a dozen students failing to pass, while others report several hundred.

In 2007 graduation ceremonies, many schools and districts opted to allow students who had failed the exit exam, but met other graduation requirements, to participate in the ceremony. Nine districts in Orange County also gave these students "certificates of completion," recognizing that they had met all other graduation requirements.[12]

As of June 2007, 4,000 of the students who failed the exam in 2006 had passed it in 2007.[13] In Sequoia Union High School District located in Palo Alto, 80% of students who took the test in 2007 passed both sections on their first attempt, compared to 40% in 2002.[14]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (June 2009)
  1. ^ a b c d [1] California Department of Education. "Program Overview," retrieved July 7, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c [2] Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times. "Exit Exam Leaves 2006 Class 42,000 Short," June 2, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  3. ^ a b [3] Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times. "Exit Exam Hearing Scheduled for July," May 27, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  4. ^ [4] California Department of Education. Standards and Assessment Division. "CAHSEE Language Arts Blueprint," July 9, 2003. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  5. ^ [5] California Department of Education. Standards and Assessment Division. "CAHSEE Mathematics Blueprint," July 9, 2003. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  6. ^ a b [6] Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times. "O'Connell Is Champion of Exit Exam," May 29, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  7. ^ [7] California Department of Education. "Senate Bill 517 Q&A." Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  8. ^ [8] Jeff Hudson, The Davis Enterprise. "Exit strategy," January 22, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  9. ^ [9]Hollister Free Lance. "The Trouble With CAHSEE," January 4, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  10. ^ [10] Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times. "Quick Answer Sought on Exit Exam," May 20, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2006.
  11. ^ Marjorie Hernandez (June 18, 2007). "Most county seniors pass exit exam" (HTML). Ventura County Star. http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/jun/18/most-county-seniors-pass-exit-exam/. Retrieved 2007-07-06. 
  12. ^ Fermin Leal (June 29, 2007). "Exit exam keeping 394 students from graduating" (HTML). The Orange County Register. http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1748419.php. Retrieved 2007-07-06. 
  13. ^ "California school exams are imperiled" (HTML). San Jose Mercury News. June 8, 2007. http://origin.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_6090764. Retrieved 2007-07-06. 
  14. ^ Mark Abramson (June 10, 2007). "Local exit exam pass rates mixed" (HTML). Palo Alto Daily News. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928135401/http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-6-10-exit-exam. Retrieved 2007-07-06. 

[edit] External links

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