Higher percentage of 10th-graders passing exit exam first time
around; English language learners remain a concern
Gilroy – More sophomores passed the California High School Exit exam the first time around, good news since that means fewer teens will spend their senior year struggling to pass as graduation nears.
Still, the news is not entirely positive. The reality is, more than 200 of Gilroy Unified School District’s 10th-graders will have to take the test again and that’s not including the 30 sophomores who missed the February administration and took it in March. Those, along with the junior and senior results, will be released in mid-May.
Rob van Herk, the district’s information technology director, said he’s “cautiously positive” about the outcome.
“In both areas you see a very small increase” he said. “Still there are many, many kids who haven’t passed.”
That many of the students were only a few points shy of the 350 needed to pass was disappointing but also promising, said van Herk.
The improvement was slight with Gilroy High School students moving up in the past three years from 77 percent to 79 percent and finally 81 percent in English and in math from 69 percent to 71 percent to 72 percent.
When English language learner test-takers are isolated, the need for improvement is even more evident with only 30 percent of Gilroy High students passing in math and between 35 to 40 percent in English.
The achievement gap of students learning English is definitely a serious concern, van Herk said.
“You see it in every area,” he said. “I know that a lot of people are really trying to resolve that.”
Speaking as both a district official and the father of children who will soon take the CAHSEE, van Herk said he’d like to see the passage rate closer to 90 percent. Sergio Montenegro also would like to see progress, but the Mt. Madonna High School principal was happy to discover that so many sophomores passed on their first try.
“We’re preparing them earlier and better to pass the CAHSEE,” he said.
For the continuation school that translates to fewer intervention classes for upper-class students who have yet to pass the exam. Both local high schools offer tutorial classes but Mt. Madonna also managed to attract volunteers to help students who have unsuccessfully taken the exam multiple times. More than 100 Mt. Madonna and Gilroy High seniors have yet to pass this year’s CAHSEE.
Montenegro noted that many of his sophomores passed despite their troubles with the English language, a good sign for the future.
“Remember, this is a continuation high school, so we’re not supposed to get those kinds of results,” he said.
Students take the California High School Exit Exam for the first time their sophomore year and have five additional chances to take it before graduating. Six years ago, the state approved legislation requiring seniors to pass the exam in order to graduate but when a large number failed it was placed on hold.
Students graduating this spring are the first class affected by the requisite.
