Local high school exam results improve

Ferndale High boasts 100% passage rate for tenth graders

Humboldt Sentinel staff
9/6/09

Eureka

Humboldt County public schools received the latest results from the California Department of Education for the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) that exhibit the steadfast improvement of local students for the last three years.

“I am delighted to see that Humboldt County students continue to improve their CAHSEE passage rates,” County Superintendent of Schools Garry Eagles stated in a release. “The ongoing improvement that our students have demonstrated is proof that our schools continue to raise the bar in academic achievement.”

The CAHSEE is designed to ensure that all high school graduates have achieved a solid foundation of knowledge and skills in English-language arts and mathematics. The CAHSEE test questions are based on the state content standards. Students are required to take the CAHSEE for the first time in the tenth grade. Students who do not pass the CAHSEE will have two opportunities in the eleventh grade and up to five opportunities in the twelfth grade to pass the exam.

The latest data indicate that an increasing percentage of students are passing the exam on their first opportunity in the tenth grade. 81 percent of the Class of 2011 has already passed the English-language arts portion, compared to 77 percent of the tenth graders in the Class of 2009. In mathematics, 82 percent of the first-time test takers passed, an increase from 80 percent for the Class of 2009.

Ferndale High topped the list with 100% of their students passing in tenth grade, up from 90% the year before and 84% two years ago. Hoopa High continues to rank the lowest, with 71% of their students passing in the tenth grade, up two points from the 69% average of the two prior years.

When comparing to the first-time test takers in the Class of 2009 to the first-time test takers in the Class of 2011, the CAHSEE data for our local students does show a narrowing of the achievement gap. The achievement gap between Hispanic and white students decreased in English-language arts by an estimated 4 percent and in mathematics by 2 percent. The achievement gap between American Indian or Alaska Native and white students on the English-language arts portion of the test is estimated to have decreased 6 percent and in mathematics by 4 percent. For African American and white students the achievement gap decreased by an estimated 1 percent in mathematics and remained constant on the English-language arts portion of the test.

In both subsections of the CAHSEE, overall passage rates for Humboldt County students exceed state averages. Data shows that all county students taking the CAHSEE exam during the 2008-09 year scored 6 percentage points higher in the English-language arts portion and 9 percentage points higher in the mathematics portion when compared to state test results.

Results for the entire California High School Exit Examination for the state, counties, school districts and schools are available on the California Department of Education web site at http://cahsee.cde.ca.gov.