Exit Exam: County students top peers statewide
SAN JOSE, CA – An analysis of the 2009-10 California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) shows that Santa Clara County students continue to outperform their statewide counterparts, and also reveals ongoing progress in narrowing the achievement gap between scores of student subgroups.
According to the analysis by the staff of the Santa Clara County Office of Education, county 10thgrade students have consistently outperformed their peers statewide from 2002 to 2010 in both the English Language Arts and mathematics segments of the exam.
“These results show a continued level of excellence from Santa Clara County students – and their teachers,” said County Superintendent of Schools Charles Weis, Ph.D. “We at the County Office of Education couldn’t be more proud.”
The analysis found that all student subgroups maintained or improved their performance on both portions of the exam. Further, the disparity between scores of white and Hispanic subgroups on the exam’s English Language Arts segment narrowed by three percentage points between 2009 and 2010; the difference in scores on the mathematics segment between these groups remained unchanged.
“We are very excited that our initial efforts to close the achievement gap are working, but we have more work to do,” Weis said. “We must remain steadfast in our commitment to eliminating the disparity in achievement.”
The COE analysis also found that most county student subgroups outperform their statewide peers on both CAHSEE segments. This finding is most evident in the scores of African American 10th graders and 10th grade students with disabilities.
County African American 10th graders topped their statewide peers on the English Language Arts segment by 10 percentage points, and by 11 percentage points in mathematics. County 10th grade students with disabilities had a lead of 10 percentage points over their statewide counterparts on both exam segments.
The CAHSEE findings are the second batch of standardized test results released in recent weeks that showed progress in county students: Released earlier this month, California Standards Test results showed marked improvement among Hispanic students.
“We are headed in the right direction, but there is much ground left to cover,” Weis said. “You can bet that the County Office of Education will harness this momentum to further our mission to provide every county student with a world-class education.”