By Khalida Sarwari
Results from the 2008-2009 California High School Exit Exam released by state officials today show that more high school sophomores in Santa Clara County passed both parts of the exam than their counterparts across the state, but that an achievement gap between subgroups persists.
About 83 percent of 10th graders in Santa Clara County passed the English section compared to 79 percent of students statewide. In math, the pass rate was 86 percent for Santa Clara County students compared to 80 percent of students statewide.
The exam is administered to sophomores and is mandatory for all students to graduate from high school. Students are also given an opportunity to take the test during their junior and senior year.
At a news conference at Pioneer High School in San Jose this morning, Santa Clara County Superintendent Charles Weiss told a group of students that the results showed a pattern of progress, but that the achievement gap still needed to be narrowed.
“It’s going to be a big job to make sure that all kids have the same opportunity as the higher achieving kids,” Weiss said. “We must do this for all kids in Santa Clara County.”
The results showed that although Asian, white, and black students fared better on the English section of the test compared to the rest of the state, Hispanic and Filipino students had a lower passing rate.
In math, English learners and students with disabilities in Santa Clara County had a comparatively higher passing rate, however Hispanic and Filipino students showed a lower passing rate.
The Human Resources Research Organization, a nonprofit organization that conducted an independent evaluation of the exam, found that passing rates for students with disabilities and English learners are not increasing and that similarly low-income and minority students have had
difficulty passing the exam.
According to county education officials, the gap in the English segment between white and Hispanic subgroups has decreased by 3 percent over the last five years. In math, the gap between those subgroups has decreased by 7 percent.
State Superintendent Jack O’Connell opened the news conference today by speaking about the importance of the exam, stating that it is the only one in California aligned to world-class standards for education.
“Public education is moving in the right direction,” O’Connell said. “But we need to accelerate the narrowing of the gap. The exam shows that the achievement gap is real and absolutely must be closed.”
A task, he said, that is not only a moral and social imperative, but an economic one as well and thus concerns everyone.
San Jose this month will take upon that task with the launch of an initiative that will work to eliminate the achievement gap in San Jose by 2020. The initiative, titled “SJ2020,” is a collaborative effort between the city of San Jose, its most impacted school districts, charter schools, business and nonprofit community leaders, and the Santa Clara County Office of Education.