91% of seniors pass state exam [in California]

91% of seniors pass state exam
Exit test keeps estimated 5% from graduating
- Nanette Asimov, Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writers
Saturday, July 22, 2006

The final tally of high school seniors who failed the statewide exit exam is in: 40,173 students -- more than half of whom would have otherwise graduated this year -- did not pass the test, the state Department of Education announced Friday.

Passing the exit exam was a graduation requirement for the first time this spring, causing anguish for students who had satisfied all other graduation requirements except the test of basic math and English skills.

Based on a poll of the state's largest districts, an estimated 5 percent of all 2006 seniors ultimately did not graduate solely because they couldn't pass the exam, state officials said.

Those students -- who would have qualified for graduation in prior years but leave high school empty-handed this year -- are at the center of a lawsuit that seeks to nullify the exit exam on constitutional grounds. The case goes to a state appeals court for a hearing on Tuesday.

Many of those students tried to pass the test in May, when it was given for the last time before graduation in June. The new results show that only 1,759 seniors managed to pass at that time, compared with 4,542 who succeeded in the March administration of the test.

Statewide, 9 percent of the Class of 2006 failed the exit exam, while seniors at the Bay Area's largest school districts fared worse. In San Francisco, 12 percent of seniors failed, while 13 percent did not pass in the West Contra Costa Unified School District and 43 percent failed in the Oakland Unified School District.

Hispanic and African American students were more likely to fail than their white and Asian counterparts. Through May, 97 percent of white students and 95 percent of Asian students had passed, compared with 85 percent of Hispanic students and 83 percent of African Americans.

Because it takes two months to score the tests, students who passed in May and were otherwise qualified to graduate will now receive their diplomas, many of them in special summer ceremonies organized by their districts. San Francisco Unified, for example, will hand out diplomas to all eligible students in a ceremony later this month.

The law gives students six chances to pass the exit exam between 10th and 12th grade. But state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell, who wrote the exit exam legislation when he was a state senator in 1999, has said there is no statute of limitations for students who want to continue trying to pass the exam and earn a diploma.

For now, in addition to the regularly scheduled test dates, the state Legislature approved funding in the recently signed budget for two additional administrations of the exam for the class of 2006. The first is next week, and the second is on two Saturdays in December -- English and math on separate days -- to accommodate adult school or independent study students who work.

"I urge these students to continue to work in summer school, take a fifth year of high school, or study in adult school or community college to acquire those important skills in English and math," O'Connell said.

Many students are doing just that.

Iris Padilla, 17, who did not pass the exam despite having satisfied all other graduation requirements at Richmond High, studies English twice a week at Contra Costa Community College. She plans to take the English portion of the test on Tuesday and the math portion on Wednesday.

"I know I'm not going to pass," Iris said.

Like 41 percent of those who haven't passed, Iris speaks little English. She was born in Los Angeles but grew up in Mexico. Now, living with her Spanish-speaking mother in Richmond, she is torn between her need to learn English and her fear of speaking the unfamiliar words.

"It's embarrassing," she said.

The Oakland school district, which chose to give the test in March instead of May, gave all failing students the opportunity to take two free courses at Laney College, one for exit exam preparation and the other any class of their choosing that would count as college credit. Those students are eligible to take the exam next week.

In San Francisco, 199 of the 4,400 seniors in county and district schools didn't graduate because they couldn't pass the test. About 30 took a summer school course, and a total of 80 students have signed up to take the July administration. As with the rest of the state, many who failed were English learners.

"I think (the state) could have done a better job giving us more support for the English language learners," said interim San Francisco Unified Superintendent Gwen Chan.

After all the confusion and legal tussles over whether the exit exam would be enforced this year, Chan said she hopes the class of 2007 will have a "more positive and hopeful experience."

"This is the first year it's played out," she said. "It's been a learning experience. But the saga goes on."

Many class of 2006 students who didn't pass the exam are pinning their hopes for a diploma on a class-action lawsuit that claims the exam violates the state constitution. The case will be heard Tuesday before the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco.

In May, an Alameda County Superior Court judge shot down the exit exam, but the state Supreme Court overturned the ruling at O'Connell's request. Students who are suing the state say they were not taught the material on the test, nor did they have qualified teachers, textbooks and other materials needed to learn.

What's in the exam
The California High School Exit Exam consists of two sections. Students begin taking the test as sophomores and are allowed to take it as many as six times before graduation day. There is no time limit during the administration of the test. The exam includes:

-- Math content to eighth or ninth grade, including statistics, probability, data analysis, algebra, geometry and number sense including knowledge of fractions, decimals, and rational and irrational numbers.

-- English/language arts content to the 10th grade, including vocabulary, word origin and reading comprehension. Students are also required to write an essay.


Source: California Department of Education

E-mail Nanette Asimov at nasimov@sfchronicle.com and Jill Tucker at jtucker@sfchronicle.com.





Exit exam results

The final pass rates
are in for the class of 2006:
Number
All who Percent
seniors* passed passed

California 436,374 396,201 91%

San Francisco United 4,404 3,863 88%

Oakland Unified 2,350 1,350 57%

West Contra Costa Unified 1,756 1,524 87%

*Note: Special education students, included in the total number of seniors,
were
exempted from having to pass the exam this year and did not necessarily
participate in
all administrations of the exam.
.
Source: California Department of Education, school districts
The Chronicle


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