blog post The High School Exit Exam: What’s Next? By Paul Warren Sep 24, 2014 The California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) is likely to be a topic of discussion in the next legislative session. The question is whether to update it so that it aligns better with Common Core, find an alternative measure, or eliminate the requirement altogether.
Report Passing the California High School Exit Exam: Have Recent Policies Improved Student Performance? By Julian Betts, Andrew C. Zau, Yendrick Zieleniak, Karen Bachofer Jun 26, 2012 Recent interventions aimed at students who have failed the CAHSEE have not meaningfully improved passage rates in San Diego. This finding underlines the need to help struggling students before they reach high school. To help California school districts identify these students, the authors introduce the CAHSEE Early Warning Model. This report was supported with funding from the Donald Bren Foundation.
Report Predicting Success, Preventing Failure: An Investigation of the California High School Exit Exam By Julian Betts, Andrew C. Zau Jun 10, 2008 Many educators, parents, and policymakers continue to call for reforms to the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), citing concern about the 10 percent of California students who do not graduate because of their failure to pass the test. By law, current funding for tutoring those at risk of failing the CAHSEE is targeted at those in grade 12 and beyond. But is this the best use of limited resources? The authors suggest that earlier interventions are possible and are likely to be more effective. Using the San Diego Unified School District as a test case, they are able to predict passage of the CAHSEE as early as grade 4. Based on these findings, the authors offer new approaches to funding CAHSEE-related programs.
press release Efforts to Help Struggling Students Pass Exit Exam Are Too Little, Too Late Jun 26, 2012
event The James Irvine Foundation Briefing SeriesPassing the High School Exit Exam:Have Recent Policies Improved Student Performance? Jun 27, 2012
Report California’s English Learner Students By Laura Hill Sep 6, 2012 English Learner (EL) students in California’s schools are numerous and diverse, and they lag behind their native-English-speaking peers. Closing the achievement gap for EL students has been a long-standing goal for California educators, and there are some signs of success. Now that EL funding and curriculum issues are receiving a fresh level of scrutiny from decisionmakers in Sacramento, it is important to assess our understanding of this diverse group, highlight the opportunities to improve policies around demonstrating mastery of English, calibrate funding formulas involving EL students, and implement new curriculum standards thoughtfully.
Report California’s Changing K-12 Accountability Program By Paul Warren Jan 17, 2013 California recently joined a number of other states in adopting the Common Core State Standards, which establish new criteria for what students should learn in school. It also joined a consortium of states to develop new tests based on those standards. The new standards are ambitious, and some teachers are concerned they are not prepared to convey the higher-level skills and concepts they contain. The new tests will allow the state to measure gains in each student’s achievement, creating new options for how the state ranks schools. The change will also prompt the state to reassess the value of state tests in high school and its options for holding secondary schools accountable. More changes to the state’s accountability program are likely when Congress reauthorizes the federal education law, and the way the state addresses these current issues will influence the shape of its future accountability program.
