LOS ANGELES, Calif.–Los Angeles Unified School District 10th graders fared slightly better on the California High School Exit Exam than last year’s class, with 75 percent passing the math portion and the same percentage passing the English section, according to test results released today.
The scores were an improvement over last year’s 10th grade class, which had a 72 percent pass rate for the math section of the test, and 73 percent on the English section, according to the California Department of Education.
Statewide, 82.7 percent of 10th graders passed the math portion of the test, while 82.4 percent passed the English portion.
“These CAHSEE results continue a recent trend of LAUSD performing exceedingly well on state-mandated tests,” district Superintendent John Deasy said. “The fact that we have been able to do this with fewer and fewer funds speaks to the incredible efforts of administrators, parents and teachers to provide the best education possible for our students.”
LAUSD officials noted that although the district’s pass rates are lower than the state’s, LAUSD scores are increasing at a faster rate.
According to the CDE, 94.6 percent of students in the class of 2011 across the state passed the overall exam, up from 94.5 percent last year.
“It is heartening to see that our students continue to learn and achieve despite the painful toll that budget cuts are taking on our schools,” said Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public instruction. “The results of this year’s exit examination–and the progress schools are making to close the achievement gap–are yet another sign of the remarkable commitment that teachers, school employees and administrators have to the students of California.”
All students in California must take the exit exam during their sophomore year. They have two more opportunities to pass it in the 11th grade and three chances as seniors.
The class of 2006 was the first graduating class in California that was required to meet the exit exam requirement.
Torklason noted that the achievement gap between Hispanic and White students has narrowed by 11.6 percentage points from the class of 2006 and the class of 2013–this year’s 10th graders–on the English portion of the test and 12 percentage points on the math section.
The gap between Black and White students shrank over that same time period by 6.5 percentage points in English and 9.9 points in math.
