High school students in San Francisco are making significant gains when it comes to passing the exit exam, which is required before receiving a diploma.
More San Francisco Unified School District sophomores are taking and passing the exam, which was implemented in 2006, though the district trailed the statewide average by a small amount.
The results of the 2010 California High School Exit Exam were released Tuesday. Students are required to take the math and English tests as sophomores and are given five chances to pass before graduation.
In San Francisco, 185 students in the graduating class of 2010 had not passed the exit exam in time for the graduation ceremony, compared to 291 students in the class of 2009 who did not pass in time.
School officials in The City recognize the importance of passing the test the first time and therefore emphasize this goal to sophomores.
Students who take and pass the test as sophomores are more likely to graduate, according to SFUSD Superintendent Carlos Garcia.
“There’s a huge correlation,” Garcia said. “Whether kids pass this, it determines who moves on to college.”
Garcia said the district’s adoption of the A-G requirements, coursework necessary for admission into a the California State University system, will also better prepare students for the exit exam and their future. The new requirements went into place for all incoming freshmen this year.
According to data released by the California Department of Education, 181 more sophomores passed their English-language arts test last spring in San Francisco than the year before, and 128 more students passed their math tests compared to the previous year.
In 2009, 3,339 sophomores passed the English test the first time, while 3,520 students passed in 2010. For math, 3,391 students passed in 2009, compared with 3,519 sophomores passing in 2010.
Overall, the district increased 2 percentage points in math — a total of 80 percent of students passing — and 3 percentage points in English — a total of 80 percent of students passing.
Individual schools made gains as well. Out of 22 high schools in San Francisco, 16 made significant gains in getting students to pass both exams the first time. Only four high schools lost percentage points and two did not change.
Despite the gains by students in The City, the district is trailing the statewide average passage rates.
Statewide, more students passed the test their first time. The amount of students passing the test for the first time increased by 3 percentage points from 2009.
In the state, an average of 81 percent of students taking the exit exam passed in both math and language skills, a
1-percentage-point difference from the district numbers.
Laser focus pays off for Mission High
Three years after taking over the reins at Mission High School, Eric Guthertz and his staff of 70 teachers increased student performance on the California High School Exit Exam by as much as 18 percentage points.
Guthertz credits staff, students and parents for the increase and sense of community embraced by the school. He said since becoming principal, he has instituted student teams that offer mentoring to students and principal chats that allow parents to asks questions about all that is happening at the school. In addition, the teachers at the school work together to form the curriculum.
“Kids see this as a make-or-break test,” he said. “So we focus on preparing students to go to college and give them the tools they need to make a lot of choices so they can walk out the door and say, ‘I’m ready.’”
Mission High School is one of 18 schools to see gains on the number of students passing the exit exam on the first try as sophomores. Mission students though, saw an increase of 13 percentage points in English and 18 percentage points in math scores compared with the sophomores who took the test in 2009.
Guthertz said the increased test scores and involvement has also improved the image of the school.
“It’s all part of the bigger picture,” he said. “Students want to be here.”
Superintendent praises progress in closing test achievement gap
Minority and economically disadvantaged students are making strides in passing the California High School Exit Exam since the test was first given, closing the gap between them and their white and Asian peers, according to state education officials.
State Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell said these gains in closing the achievement gap are positive, but he also would like to see a more accelerated push to close it further.
“We know all students can learn,” O’Connell said. “These scores show continued progress in our schools and it shows strong efforts and resilience, which we must accelerate.”
According to data released by the state superintendent, 91.6 percent of all Hispanic students in the class of 2010 who took the test passed. Hispanic students make up 47 percent of all of California’s student population. In 2006, the first year the test was administered, 58.5 percent of Hispanic students were passing. Similar increases were seen for black students.
An estimated 95 percent of students statewide passed the exit exam in 2010, an increase of 5 percentage points since 2006.
Passing the exam on the first try
Percentage of sophomores who passed the exit exam in the 2009-10 school year, compared to sophomores who took the test in the 2008-09 school year and passed:
Math
SFUSD
2009 78
2010 80
Change 2
Statewide
2009 80
2010 81
Change 1
English-language arts
SFUSD
2009 77
2010 80
Change 3
Statewide
2009 79
2010 81
Change 2
Source: California Department of Education
Leaving without a diploma
Hundreds of students in San Francisco did not receive diplomas in June because they didn’t pass the exit exam.
CLASS OF 2010:
3,765
seniors enrolled
3,580
students passed the exit exam
185
students did not pass the exam
CLASS OF 2011:
3,934
seniors enrolled
683
students have not passed
265
students have not taken the test
Source: San Francisco Unified School District
Sophomores who have passed the test
The California High School Exit Exam scores for the SFUSD:
Math
School 2010 2009 Percentage-
School 2010 2009 point change
Abraham Lincoln High School 86 84 2
Academy of Arts and Sciences 70 N/A N/A
Balboa High School 88 78 10
Phillip and Sala Burton High School 77 70 7
Downtown High School 23 20 3
Five Keys Charter High School 23 35 -12
Galileo High School 85 90 -5
Gateway Charter High School 90 82 8
George Washington High School 88 91 -3
Independence Alternative High School 53 41 12
International Studies High School 70 53 17
Leadership Charter High School 69 72 -3
Life Learning Charter High School 41 60 -19
Lowell High School 99 100 -1
Thurgood Marshall High School 63 62 1
Mission High School 73 55 18
Newcomer High School (now closed) 57 60 -3
John O’Connell High School 53 46 7
Raoul Wallenberg High School 82 82 0
School of the Arts High School 92 89 3
Small School for Equity High School 54 41 13
Ida B. Wells Alternative High School 65 28 37
English-language arts
School 2010 2009 Percentage-
School 2010 2009 point change
Abraham Lincoln High School 82 78 4
Balboa High School 84 77 7
Phillip and Sala Burton High School 77 59 18
Downtown High School 49 44 5
Five Keys Charter High School 55 48 7
Galileo High School 82 82 0
Gateway Charter High School 91 85 6
George Washington High School 85 89 -4
Independence High School 72 58 14
International Studies High School 79 54 25
Leadership Charter High School 76 75 1
Life Learning Charter High School 60 77 -17
Lowell High School 99 99 0
Thurgood Marshall High School 60 48 12
Mission High School 60 47 13
Newcomer High School (now closed) 4 2 2
John O’Connell High School 56 53 3
Raoul Wallenberg High School 87 86 1
School of the Arts High School 97 88 9
Small School for Equity High School 70 51 19
Ida B. Wells Alternative High School 60 50 10
Source: California Department of Education
Scores year over year
Exit exam passage, by percentage, comparing sophomore SFUSD students to peers statewide:
Math
Year SFUSD Statewide
2010 80 81
2009 78 80
2008 80 78
2007 81 76
2006 76 76
2005 80 74
English-language arts
Year SFUSD Statewide
2010 80 81
2009 77 79
2008 77 79
2007 75 77
2006 74 77
2005 76 76
Source: California Department of Education
Sample Questions:
Math
Robert’s toy car travels at 40 centimeters per second (cm/sec) at high speed and 15 cm/sec at low speed. If the car travels for 15 seconds at high speed and then 30 seconds at low speed, what distance would the car have traveled?
a) 1050 cm b) 1200 cm
c) 1425 cm d) 2475 cm
Bonni has two similar rectangular boxes. The dimensions of box 1 are twice those of box 2. How many times greater is the volume of box 1 than the volume of box 2?
a) 3 b) 6 c) 8 d) 9
Marcus plans to buy a CD that has a regular price of $13.99. It is on sale for 10% off, but Marcus will have to pay 7% sales tax. Which is the MOST reasonable estimate of the total cost of the CD including tax?
a) $12.50 b) $13.50
c) $14.50 d) $15.50
“Len runs a mile in 8 minutes. At this rate, how long will it take him to run a marathon?” Which of the following problems can be solved using the same arithmetic operations that are used to solve the problem above?
a) Len runs 26 miles in 220 minutes. How long does it take him to run each mile?
b) A librarian has 356 books to place on 18 shelves. Each shelf will contain the same number of books. How many books can the librarian place on each shelf?
c) A cracker box weighs 200 grams. What is the weight of 100 boxes?
d) Each basket of strawberries weighs 60 grams. How many baskets can be filled from 500 grams?
Language arts
Joe was really surprised that Sandy had taken the dog with her.
a) taken b) had took
c) had of took d) Leave as is.
What would be the BEST source of information on Australian earthworms?
a) a Website for a company selling earthworms
b) a magazine article entitled “Earthworms: the Farmer’s Friend”
c) a book entitled “Earthworms From Around the World”
d) an Internet site on soil management using earthworms
“To accomplish this goal, he believed that each kid must be treated as an individual with different abilities.”
Which of the following would be the best replacement for the underlined word?
a) child b) little one
c) tyke d) tiny person
Source: California Department of Education
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