Students score high on exit exam

Torrey AndersonSchoepe

The Laguna Beach Unified School District has the highest pass rate

for the California high school exit exam of any district in the

county.

The statewide scores were released by the California Department of

Education on Monday.

The high school classes of 2006 and 2007 scored among the highest

of all schools taking the exam.

Starting with the class of 2006, California public school students

have been required to take the exit exam in their sophomore year.

Laguna’s class of 2006 had a 96% pass rate in the math section and

a 94% pass rate in the English section. The estimated average pass

rate is 88%.

Laguna’s class of 2007 had even higher pass rates in both sections

of the exam. The class of 2007 took the exam for the first time this

year and had pass rates of 97% in math and 96% in English. “Laguna

Beach High School students continue to perform at one of the highest

levels for a school district throughout the state,” said Steven

Keller, Laguna Beach High School’s assistant superintendent. “Our

scores are awesome -- they really are.”

The math section tests skills from mainly sixth- and seventh-grade

math and first-year algebra, which is usually an eighth-grade math

class. The English section tests ninth- and tenth-grade English

skills.

The exam is taken in students’ sophomore year, and if students

fail, they have five other opportunities to pass by the end of their

senior year. This year, seniors who have not yet passed the exam will

have three more opportunities to take the test.

The exam was first administered in the spring of 2001. At that

time it was a tool the state used to determine the strengths and

weaknesses of state education programs.

“The California high school exit exam is not really as much of

high school assessment as it is a kindergarten through ninth-grade

assessment,” Keller said. “The kids take it during their second year

of high school, so you are really assessing them on learning that

took place in elementary and middle school.

“It’s important that people understand that the exit exam scores

are truly an indicator of K-through-eight learning, as well as some

high school learning.”

“We won’t know the exact scores until maybe the end of September,”

said Pat Slater, spokesperson for the California Department of

Education.