L.A. SCHOOLS LAG BEHIND REST OF STATE IN EXIT EXAMS AS 12% OF SENIORS FAIL TO PASS + CDE Press Release

By Sammy Roth Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/O5Q9Ar

Updated:   08/22/2012 10:34:35 AM PDT  ::  Los Angeles schools continued to lag behind the rest of the state on the California High School Exit Exam, according to results released Wednesday.

About 12 percent of seniors in the Los Angeles Unified School District failed to pass the exit exam before graduating*, an LAUSD spokesperson said. But across the state, only about 5 percent of students weren't able to pass the test.

Still, it's a slight improvement on last year for LAUSD, when about 14 percent of seniors failed to pass the exam before graduating*.

*smf: This is misleading data. Students who don’t pass the test don’t graduate.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a statement that the state results, which improved slightly from last year, are a sign that the school system is strong despite budget cuts and other challenges.

"When 95 percent of California students are hitting the mark - despite the tremendous challenges we face and the work we still have to do - there's an awful lot going right in our public schools," Torlakson said.

The exam, which has been mandated by the state since 2003, tests students on sixth- and seventh-grade math, algebra, and 10th-grade English. Students have eight opportunities to take the exam between their sophomore and senior years of high school.

LAUSD also saw improvement this year among sophomores taking the exam for the first time.

Of this year's 10th-graders, 77 percent passed the math portion of the exam, up from 75 percent last year, and 76 percent passed the English portion, also up from 75 percent last year.

Those numbers varied widely among different demographic groups, however.

Among 10th-graders, Asian students had the best results - 97 percent passed the math section, and 92 percent passed the English section - while black students had the worst results, with 66 percent and 70 percent, respectively, passing those sections.

Roughly three-quarters of Hispanic and Latino 10th-graders passed the math and English portions of the exam.

Additionally, female students taking the exam for the first time performed better than male students on the math section, with 80 percent of women and 72 percent of men passing the math section.

CAHSEE Results for Class of 2012 - Year 2012 (CA Dept of Education) http://1.usa.gov/P0VMVG

Release: #12-77
August 22, 2012

Contact: Pam Slater
E-mail: communications@cde.ca.gov
Phone: 916-319-0818

California High School Exit Exam Results Show Continued Growth

95 percent of Students Meet Graduation Requirement

LOS ANGELES—The percentage of students from the Class of 2012 meeting the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) graduation requirement increased slightly over last year to 95 percent, marking the sixth straight year of improving performance, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.

"When 95 percent of California students are hitting the mark—despite the tremendous challenges we face and the work we still have to do—there's an awful lot going right in our public schools," Torlakson said. "I congratulate the students who succeeded on this test, the teachers who provided invaluable instruction, and the parents who gave their support and encouragement."

The CAHSEE is administered each year to ensure that students who graduate from public high schools demonstrate competency in reading, writing, and mathematics. Students who do not pass the CAHSEE in grade ten have two opportunities in grade eleven and up to five opportunities in grade twelve to pass the exam.

The preliminary 2011-12 results—which are for the July, October, November, and December 2011 and the February, March, and May 2012 test administrations—show increased passing rates among most demographic subgroups of students by the end of their senior year. Some of the largest gains were made by African American and Hispanic students. Overall, about 95 percent, or 424,480 students, in the Class of 2012 successfully passed both the English-language arts (ELA) and the mathematics portions of the CAHSEE by the end of their senior year. This was an increase of 0.8 of a percentage point over the previous year (See Tables 1 and 2) and an increase of 4.6 percentage points since the Class of 2006, the first class required to pass the CAHSEE.

"While I'm happy about the progress made by the Class of 2012, I still have concerns for the Class of 2013, the Class of 2014, and all the classes that will follow," Torlakson said. "We have made solid improvement, but schools and districts are facing some unprecedented challenges right now. Overcrowded classrooms, shorter school years, and fewer teachers are in store for us unless we stop the cuts to education funding and begin restoring some of what has been cut in recent years."

Results for the exam, which is one of several state and local graduation requirements for all students, will be provided at the school, district, county, and state levels and will be posted on the CDE CAHSEE Summary Results Web page. Individual student CAHSEE results are confidential and are not included in the Internet posting.

This year's overall passing rate did not include students with disabilities as these students are currently exempt from meeting the CAHSEE requirement, except for taking the exam in grade ten to meet state and federal requirements. Many of the students, however, continue to take the exam. For the Class of 2012, the passing rate for students with disabilities was 55.5 percent compared to 56.3 percent last year and 47.8 percent for the Class of 2006 (See Table 3).

Among African Americans, 91.9 percent of the Class of 2012 passed the exam, an increase of 2.3 percentage points over the Class of 2011 and 8.2 percentage points over the Class of 2006 (See Tables 1 and 3).

Equally significant were gains made by Hispanic or Latino students of the Class of 2012, who had passing rates of 93.1 percent, an increase of 1.4 percentage points over the Class of 2011 and 7.6 points over the Class of 2006 (See Tables 1 and 3).

Asian students passed the test at a rate of 97.8 percent or 0.7 of a percentage point improvement over last year; and white students passed at a rate of 98.6 percent, or 0.4 of a percentage point increase over last year (See Table 3).

The percentage of students passing the CAHSEE in the tenth grade, which is the first opportunity they have to take the exam, has steadily increased as well. Some 83 percent of the Class of 2014 has already passed the ELA portion, compared to 82.4 percent of the Class of 2013 (See Table 4). For mathematics, the passage rate for first-time test takers in the Class of 2014 was 83.6 percent, compared to 82.7 percent of the Class of 2013 (See Table 5).

The gap between Hispanic and white students has narrowed by 12.5 percentage points from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014 (who were tenth graders this past school year) for the ELA portion of the CAHSEE. For the mathematics portion, the gap between Hispanic and white students has narrowed by 12.9 percentage points from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014 (See Table 6).

Similarly, the gap between African American and white students has narrowed by 7.5 percentage points from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014 in ELA. And in mathematics, the gap between African American and white students has narrowed by 10.5 percentage points from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014 (See Table 7).         

Attachments

Background

• In 1999, state law authorized the development of the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE), requiring students in California public schools to pass this test to earn a high school diploma in addition to other graduation requirements.
• The standards assessed on the CAHSEE are aligned to the 1997 state content standards.
• Current law specifies that all public high school students must take the CAHSEE for the first time in grade ten, including students with disabilities (SWDs). Students who do not pass the CAHSEE in grade ten have two opportunities in grade eleven and at least three and up to five opportunities in grade twelve to pass the examination.
• Beginning with the 2009–10 school year, SWDs were exempted from passing the CAHSEE as a graduation requirement; however SWDs must take the CAHSEE in grade ten to fulfill the requirements of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 7114).
• On July 14, 2010, the SBE determined that alternative means to the CAHSEE for eligible SWDs are feasible. On July 19, 2012, the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted regulations extending the implementation date of alternative means to January 1, 2013 and is awaiting approval of the regulations from the Office of Administrative Law. Assembly Bill 1705, would extend the date of implementation provided under California Education Code Section 60852.2 to July 1, 2015 and authorize the SBE, to extend this date up to one year.

Summary of CAHSEE Results

A summary of statewide student performance on the CAHSEE is provided below. Note that while final data are available for years 2004 through 2011, the results reported for 2012 are preliminary.

The data displayed on Tables 1, 2, and 3 are taken from reports produced by the CAHSEE independent evaluator, Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO). In the annual report to be released in the fall 2012, HumRRO will provide additional CAHSEE results by grade.

Table 1 Findings

The results presented in Table 1 display the estimated cumulative percentage of students meeting the CAHSEE requirement for the Class of 2012 in grades ten, eleven, and twelve. (These data are taken from reports produced by HumRRO.) The passing rates presented in Table 1 for grades ten and eleven include SWDs in all demographic subgroups. The grade twelve passing rates exclude SWDs in all demographic subgroups, as SWDs are exempt from meeting the CAHSEE graduation requirement.

• Approximately 95 percent of the students from the Class of 2012 met the CAHSEE requirement by the end of their senior year.
• Approximately 82 percent of the English learners (ELs) met the CAHSEE requirement by the end of their senior year.
• Almost 56 percent of the SWDs met the CAHSEE requirement by his/her senior year.
• Approximately 93 percent of the economically disadvantaged students met the CAHSEE requirement by the end of their senior year.
• Over 90 percent of all subgroups, except ELs and SWDs, are meeting the CAHSEE requirement by the end of their senior year.

Table 2 Findings

The results displayed in Table 2 show the estimated cumulative percentage of students meeting the CAHSEE requirement by grade for the Classes of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The passing rates presented in Table 2 for grades ten and eleven include SWDs. The grade twelve passing rates exclude SWDs, as SWDs are exempt from meeting the CAHSEE graduation requirement.

• Approximately 7 percentage points increase in grade ten students from the Class of 2012 met the CAHSEE requirement on their first attempt as compared to the grade ten students from the Class of 2006.
• There was an increase of 1.5 percentage points for grade ten students from the Class of 2012 who met the CAHSEE requirement on their first attempt as compared to grade ten students from the Class of 2011.
• There was an approximate 6 percentage points increase in grade eleven students from the Class of 2012 who met the CAHSEE requirement as compared to grade eleven students from the Class of 2006.
• An increase of almost 5 percentage points of the grade twelve students from the Class of 2012 met the CAHSEE requirement as compared to grade twelve students from the Class of 2006.

Table 3 Findings

Table 3 displays a point-in-time comparison of the percentage of students for each class meeting the CAHSEE requirement by May in their respective senior years. Table 3 includes SWDs in all subgroups for the Classes of 2008 and 2009. For the Classes of 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2012, SWDs were exempted from passing the CAHSEE as a graduation requirement and have been excluded for all subgroups except the special education subgroup.

• Approximately 95 percent of students from the Class of 2012 have met the CAHSEE requirement by the end of their senior year.
• The Achievement Gap for meeting the CAHSEE requirement for Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino students is narrowing when compared to White students. Though White students achieved a 1.3 percentage point increase for the Classes of 2006 and 2012, the percentage change for Black or African American students when compared to White students is 8.2 percentage points, almost a seven percentage point increase. The change for Hispanic or Latino students when compared to White students is 7.6 percentage points, more than a six percentage point increase.
• Hispanic or Latino students in the Class of 2012 display an increase in passing rates when compared to Hispanic or Latino students in the Classes of 2011 and 2006 (1.4 and 7.6 percentage points, respectively) at the same point in time of their senior year.
• Black or African American students in the Class of 2012 display one of the largest increases in passing rates when compared to other subgroups. Black or African American students show increases of 2.3 and 8.2 percentage points, respectively when compared to Black or African American students in the Classes of 2011 and 2006 at the same point in time of their senior year.
• ELs in the Class of 2012 show an increase of a 1.4 percentage point in passing rates when compared to the ELs in the Class of 2011 at the same point in time of their senior year.
• SWDs in the Class of 2012 show a decrease in passing rates of -0.8 percentage points when compared to SWDs in the Classes of 2011.

Tables 4 and 5 Findings

Tables 4 and 5 present the passing rates for grade ten students in ELA and mathematics, respectively. The grade ten passing rates presented in Tables 4 and 5 include SWDs in all subgroups.

• The passing rate on the ELA portion of the CAHSEE for grade ten students in the Class of 2014 was 83.0 percent, an improvement of 8.3 percentage points from the passing rate for grade ten students in the Class of 2006. (See Table 4.)
• The Achievement Gap for the ELA portion of the CAHSEE is narrowing for Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino students when compared to White students. The change between White students from the Classes of 2006 and 2014 is 3.1 percentage points. The change for Black or African American students during the same time period is almost 3.5 times greater (10.6 percentage points) compared to White students and Hispanic or Latino students have improved over five times greater (15.6 percentage points) compared to White students. (See Table 4.)
• Improvements from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014 in the ELA passing rates for subgroups of grade ten students include an increase of 15.6 percentage points for Hispanic or Latino students, and 10.6 percentage points for Black or African American students. (See Table 4.)
• Economically disadvantaged grade ten students in the Class of 2014 compared to economically disadvantaged grade ten students in the Class of 2006 have increased passing rates of 16.1 and 17.0 percentage points in ELA and mathematics, respectively. Additionally, the change in percent for economically disadvantage students compared to non-economically disadvantaged is approximately ten percentage points higher for both of the ELA and mathematics portions of the CAHSEE. (See Tables 4 and 5.)
• For the mathematics portion of the CAHSEE, the passing rate for the students in the Class of 2014 was 83.6 percent, almost a 10.0 percentage point increase over the passing percentage for grade ten students in the Class of 2006. (See Table 5.)
• The Achievement Gap for the mathematics portion of the CAHSEE is narrowing for Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino students when compared to White students. The change between White students from the Classes of 2006 and 2014 is 4.4 percentage points. The change for Black or African American students during the same time period is almost 3.5 times greater (14.9 percentage points) compared to White students and Hispanic or Latino students have improved almost four times greater (17.3 percentage points) compared White students. (See Table 5.)
• Improvements from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014 in the mathematics passing rates for subgroups of grade ten students include an increase of 17.3 percentage points for Hispanic or Latino students and 14.9 percentage points for Black or African American students. (See Table 5.)

Tables 6 and 7 Findings

Tables 6 and 7 display the differences in the proportion of Hispanic or Latino and Black or African American grade ten students passing the CAHSEE compared to White students (i.e., gap) from the Classes of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 for ELA and mathematics. The grade ten data presented in Tables 6 and 7 includes SWDs in the passing rates.

• For the ELA portion of the CAHSEE, the gap between Hispanic or Latino and White students has narrowed by 12.5 percentage points from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014. For the mathematics portion of the CAHSEE, the gap between Hispanic or Latino and White students has narrowed by 12.9 percentage points from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014. (See Table 6.)
• For the ELA portion of the CAHSEE, the gap between Black or African American and White students has narrowed by 7.5 percentage points from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014. For the mathematic portion of the CAHSEE, the gap between Black or African American and White students has narrowed by 10.5 percentage points from the Class of 2006 to the Class of 2014. (See Table 7.)

FOR TABLES AND GRAPHS GO TO: http://1.usa.gov/P0VMVG

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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100