One in Three High Schoolers Fails Exit Exam
By Emily Berg, Staff Writer
Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer Academy of Academic Excellence teacher Charlotte Wilmeth-Street talks with Mandy Caudle, left, while Garrett Robillard, center, and Jacob Nyhoff work on projects in their Contemporary Literature class Monday. |
About 64 percent of High Desert 10th-graders who took the exam this spring passed the English language arts portion of the high school exit exam, and about 60 percent passed the math portion, according to the California Department of Education.
Students who failed will have several opportunities to re-take the exam in their 11th- and 12th-grade years.
The percentage of local students passing the test was lower than the state average. Statewide, 75 percent of students passed the English language arts portion and 74 percent passed the math portion.
Bright spots in results
In spite of the low passing rate for the area, there are some bright spots in the results. The Academy of Academic Excellence, the charter school at the Lewis Center for Educational Research in Apple Valley, had the highest percentage in the High Desert of students to pass the English language arts portion of the exam 88 percent.
About 77 percent of the AAE 10th-graders passed the math portion, according to test results.
"I think students are given a lot of information on how important that test is," said Rick Piercy, the chief executive officer of the Lewis Center.
Students don't have a direct penalty if they don't perform well on the other standardized tests but understand that they won't graduate if they don't pass the exit exam. Teachers can see students are more focused when they take it, Piercy said.
The school also offers smaller class sizes of about 25 students in the high school classes, Piercy said.
The smaller school size of about 400 in the ninth through 12th grades also helps, said Chip Kling, the school counselor.
Teachers can discuss the test and its importance more with students, Kling said.
Other high-scoring schools included Granite Hills High School in Apple Valley, where 86 percent passed the math portion and 83 percent passed the English language arts portion, according to test results.
Serrano High School in Phelan saw similar results, with 83 percent passing the math portion and 84 percent passing the English language arts portion, according to test results.
"We're really pleased," said Jim Canter, the assistant superintendent of curriculum, education and personnel services for the Snowline Joint Unified School District in Phelan.
The teachers focus on the areas of algebra and English language arts that are part of the test to make sure students know the subjects. Closer to test time, the school offers after-school programs to help students who are having trouble, Canter said.
About 70 percent of Hesperia 10th-graders passed both portions of the high school exit exam, said Mark McKinney, the director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the Hesperia Unified School District.
"That is a significant difference from when we gave this the first time," McKinney said.
The test was first given in 2000-01. At that time only 49 percent of Hesperia's students passed the English language arts portion and 34 percent passed the math portion.
Throughout San Bernardino County, 70 percent of 10th-graders passed the math portion and 71 percent passed the English language arts portion, according to test results.
The state also released results for the California Standards Tests, which determines how well students are learning the state standards, and the California Achievement Tests, Sixth Edition Survey called the CAT/6 which compares California students' knowledge with a national sample of students.
Students' achievement throughout the state and county did not increase as dramatically as it did in previous years on the tests, education officials said.
On the California Standards Test, students must score "proficient" or above in order to meet the federal requirements set by No Child Left Behind legislation. The state is slowly raising the percentage of students who must reach "proficient" to meet the federal deadline of 2020 when all students must be "proficient."
Only 13.6 percent of the students in a unified school district had to reach "proficient" in the English language arts portion for 2003-04, and only 16 percent had to reach it for the math portion.
After remaining at those levels for three years, they will jump this school year 2004-05 to 26.5 percent in math and 24.4 percent in English language arts for a unified school district, education officials said.
In San Bernardino County, 29 percent of students scored "proficient" in English language arts and 28 percent in math, according to the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools office.
On the CAT/6 test, 49 percent of San Bernardino County students scored at or above the national average in spelling, 45 percent in math, 42 percent in science, 40 percent in language and 38 percent in reading, according to the county schools office.
"We've got a lot more work to do, but I am impressed with the hard work of educators, students and parents throughout our county," said Herbert Fischer, the superintendent of county schools.
"Our role at the county schools office is to assist school districts in their efforts to improve academic achievement for all students," Fischer said.
Emily Berg can be reached at emily_berg@link.freedom.com or 955-5358.
Used with permission by the Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2004