Gilroy
– Students who missed out on a high school degree in 2006
because they did not pass the state test for graduation have not
been forgotten. Community college officials are putting $269,000
toward getting the students to prepare for, retake and pass the
exam.
Gilroy – Students who missed out on a high school degree in 2006 because they did not pass the state test for graduation have not been forgotten. Community college officials are putting $269,000 toward getting the students to prepare for, retake and pass the exam.
Gavilan College received a grant from the Chancellors Office of the California Community Colleges and starting this summer will offer a free, noncredit class with individualized instruction for adult learners who failed in 2006, but want to pass, the California High School Exit Exam.
“It’s important to have another option for students to help them get the credits and skills they’re going to need to get jobs and move ahead with their education,” said Jan Bernstein-Chargin, public information officer for the college.
The target group for the classes are students that no longer qualify to take high school classes – some English learners and special education students can take a fifth year of high school – but still want to attain a high school degree.
Gilroy saw more than 40 seniors fail the English language-arts portion of the exam in 2006 and more than 40 seniors failed the math portion.
Depending on whether those failing the English portion were the same as those failing the mathematics portion, the percentage of the roughly 650 Gilroy high school seniors in 2006 who did not pass the exam ranges from 7 to 13 percent. Statewide failure rates range from 3 to 6 percent by similar calculations.
The class is a welcome addition to the range of options available to students struggling to pass the exit exam, said Stefani Garino, assistant principal at Gilroy High School.
If GHS students do not initially pass the exam in their sophomore year, they are offered group and individual tutoring to prepare them for the other six chances they have to take the test during their junior and senior years. However, each year about 10 of the more than about 600 students in the high school end up failing the exam.
Gavilan’s class can be a boon for these kids as many of them have enough credits at GHS to graduate but are scoring just below a passing grade on the exit exam, said Garino.
All students who completed their fourth year of high school in 2006 within the college’s district – which includes Gilroy, San Martin, Morgan Hill, Hollister and five other areas – are eligible to take part in the program. The college will partner with the nine high schools in its district to help identify and recruit these students.
The aim is not only to help adults get a high school diploma, but to foster lifelong learners, said Bernstein-Chargin.
“Hopefully they will not stop with the CAHSEE prep,” she said.
