Predicting Success, Preventing Failure: An Investigation of the California High School Exit Exam
Andrew C. Zau and Julian Betts

California implemented the California High School Exit Exam in 2001 with the expectation that students would be required to pass this exam in order to receive a diploma. The exam consists of two independent tests designed to evaluate whether high school students have mastered English at a grade 10 level and math at a grade 8 level. The exam has been a source of much debate and is currently the subject of a court battle. In this study, the research team will compile a dataset that tracks the academic progress of individual students and will provide a detailed analysis of why more than one out of ten California students has not been able to pass this minimum competency test after multiple attempts. The primary goal of the study will be to provide state and local policymakers, as well as administrators at the school and district level, a set of practical guidelines for identifying students at an early grade who may be at risk of failing the exam.