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San Clemente High Improves on High School Exit Exams

Students must pass the exam, also known as CAHSEE, to earn a high school diploma.

More sophomores at passed the California High School Exit Exam this year.

Students must pass the exam, also known as CAHSEE (“kay-see”), to earn a high school diploma. The test is first administered in the 10th grade, and if the students don’t pass it, they have multiple chances to take it again. It tests only English-language arts and mathematics.

The percentage of San Clemente High students passing the math portion climbed from 89 percent to 91 percent, and the English passage rate inched up from 89 percent to 90 percent.

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While the number of students passing the California High School Exit Exam is growing state and countywide, the results for Capistrano Unified School District are more of a mixed bag.

Districtwide, 92 percent of 10th-graders in passed the math portion of the test in 2011, the same percentage of students in 2010. The number grew from 92 percent to 93 percent for students taking the English portion of the test.

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"These results are the latest evidence that Capistrano Unified is a successful school system and extraordinarily successful for a system of its size," said Marcus Walton, chief communications officer for the district.

The figures are stronger than for Orange County students as whole, 88 percent of whom passed both the math and English portions this past school year. Statewide, those numbers were 83 percent for math and 82 percent for English.

Both the county and statewide figures grew slightly from 2010 to 2011. And while CUSD did gain one percentage point in English overall, half of its six comprehensive high schools saw dips in their numbers.

"As for an analysis of the numbers to look for trends and rationales, we haven’t done this analysis for the CAHSEE," Walton said.

 10th graders passed the CAHSEE in fewer numbers this year. The math percentages dropped from 89 percent to 86 percent, and the English dropped from 91 percent to 89 percent.

Likewise, fewer students passed the CAHSEE this year in math, with the passage rate dropping from 94 percent to 92 percent. However, at 93 percent, English remained on par with 2010’s passage rate.

The number of  students in the class of 2013 who passed the math portion of the CAHSEE dropped one percentage point, to 95 percent, while English stayed the same as 2010, at 95 percent.

Meanwhile, the passage rate at climbed, up one point to 92 percent for math and up two points, to 94 percent, for English.

The state also broke down its CAHSEE results into demographics that showed that English learners continue to struggle. Passage rates for both parts of the test were dramatically down at Capo, where just 44 percent of 10th-grade English learners passed the math portion, down from 56 percent last year. The English passage rate fell from 56 to 40 percent.

San Juan Hills English learners also saw sharp declines. Only 43 percent of 10th-graders passed the math portion, down from 53 percent last year, while English passage rates dropped from 47 percent to 39 percent.

Aliso Niguel and Dana Hills had mixed results for their English learners. At Aliso, 69 percent passed the math portion this year, compared with 71 percent in 2010. But the success rate for the English portion saw a big increase, from 32 percent in 2010 to 43 percent this year.

Dana Hills English learners dropped one point, to 56 percent, for math. But they also skyrocketed 11 points on their passage rate for the English half of the CAHSEE.

One school saw gains in both portions of the test for its English learners. At San Clemente High, the math passage rate went up one point, from 47 to 48 percent; English was up four points to 29 percent. 

Tesoro had too few English learners to be measured.

"We acknowledge that we have more work to do, which is why we are continuing our focus on academic development, design, and delivery," Walton said. "This focus will help all students, including those who are might need more academic support."

CUSD Latinos in general lag the district as a whole. About 10 percent fewer pass the math and English aspects of the CAHSEE, at 81 percent and 82 percent. Those figures are only slightly better than countywide Latino averages of 79 percent both for English and math. Statewide, 77 percent of 10th-grade Latinos passed math, and 76 passed English.

Corrections: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the countywide pass rate for the 2011 English exam as 86 percent. It was actually 88 percent. An earlier version also compared Latino pass rates to those of white students. The statistics cited for whites were actually for the district as a whole.

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