One in five might not graduate in 2006
By Kevin Butler
Staff writer

LONG BEACH — More than one-fifth of California's high school seniors are at risk of not graduating because they have not passed the exit exam required for a diploma, according to a state-commissioned independent study released Friday.
Nearly 100,000 seniors began the school year without having passed the high school exit exam, a graduation requirement starting in 2006, according to the report.

Perhaps half of that number ultimately won't don caps and gowns this summer, including substantial numbers of disabled students and those not fluent in English, according to the report by the Human Resources Research Organization.

In the Long Beach Unified School District, 25 percent of high school seniors 1,615 began this school year having not passed the exam, which includes an English and math component, according to district officials.

The LBUSD and other area school districts have created special classes during the day, after school and on Saturdays to prepare the struggling seniors.

"I think given what we know about how to prepare kids for the test, we are doing an effective job," said Lynn Winters, LBUSD assistant superintendent of research.

Seniors will get up to three more opportunities to pass the exam before graduation time.

In the Downey Unified School District, 23 percent of seniors have not passed. The figure is 26 percent in the Norwalk-La Mirada District. In the ABC Unified School District, 19 percent haven't passed, but that figure does not include special education students.

The independent evaluator used estimates to calculate the passing rates because the state lacks unique student identifiers and cannot track individual pupils.

The estimates may be two percentage points higher or lower than the actual totals, the organization reported.

Forty-nine percent of California's English-language learners and 65 percent of special education students have not passed the test, the report stated.

Blacks and Latinos also have struggled. Thirty-seven percent of black seniors and 32 percent of Latinos haven't passed, the report estimated.

Economically disadvantaged seniors also have fallen behind, with 34 percent not passing the exam.

The report noted that among special education students, those



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with more severe disabilities are faring worse on the test than those who are able to spend more time in regular classrooms.

The report fuels a growing debate about the extent of alternatives that should be offered to seniors who fail to graduate this summer. Among the possible options for those seniors is an alternative diploma or graduation certificate, the report said.

The LBUSD has a certificate of completion, but only for special education students, Winters said.

Extending the certificate to other students would require a change in state law, she said.

The report's other suggestions include completing a senior-year portfolio project, successfully finishing a special summer course after 12th grade and taking additional years of high school.

In the LBUSD, seniors who don't pass the test at graduation time can study at adult schools for future tries at the exam.

Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, said the state Department of Education will study the alternatives suggested in the report, but that the exam requirement is still in place.

"While it is appropriate to consider these options, it is critical that in doing so we keep one core principle front and center: Awarding a student a diploma without the knowledge and skills to back it up does a great disservice to that student," he said.

The discussion of alternatives should not be seen as a license for seniors to "slack off," said Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education. Students will still have to show mastery of the test concepts, she said.

"The California high school exit exam is here to stay," she said.