The California Exit State Exam.

Essay by sr20detspecUniversity, Bachelor's December 2003

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The California State Exit Exam

The California High School Exit Exam has been long in coming and it seems to be having a difficult birth, the test is now in existence. Several versions have been taken by groups of students, many having spent sleepless nights worrying about the outcome. The California High School Exit Exam (CHSEE) preparation courses have sprung up. Teachers have developed new techniques to assist students specifically to pass this test. I considered this examination to be essential to all students and most importantly teachers for their efforts putting students on the right track towards success.

The purpose of CHSEE is to improve student achievement in high school to help ensure that students who graduate from high school can demonstrate competency in state academic content standards adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE). High school students scheduled to graduate in 2004 had an estimated 64% passing the English-language arts section and 44% have passed the mathematics section (Hill).

These students are on the leading edge of a plan to make a diploma more meaningful and to some, more elusive. Recently high school students have been expressing their reactions and concerns about this high stakes test. Thirteen out of 14 students at Los Gatos High School, and 15 out of 16 students at Saratoga High School, passed each exam. Eighty-two percent of the test-takers at Prospect High School in Saratoga passed the English-language arts section, and 70% passed the mathematics section (Ray).Prospect students say the test were too easy, for example sophomore Kelly Kinney, 15, said her middle school made a big deal about them in eighth grade, and that she was nervous about taking them. But when she took the exams, she said they were much easier than she expected. Kinney's classmate Azra Kocan, 15, said...