Class of 2006 must pass high school exit exam in order to graduate

This time it’s for real, say administrators
by NATHAN WRIGHT, Staff Writer
The Windsor High School class of 2006 took its first crack at
the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) last week, a test
they must pass to graduate.
Every high school sophomore in the state will take the exam this
year. They will need to pass it before receiving a high school
diploma. The state had originally launched the exams in the
2001-2002 school year, but decided its schools were not ready for
the test and threw out the results. The state is trying again this
year, and the Windsor Unified School District staff do not believe
the results will be thrown out again.
“Yes, I think it will count,” said Cindy Pilar, the district’s
director of curriculum and instruction. “All indications are that
the state will be holding the class of 2006 accountable for passing
the California High School Exit Exam as a requirement for
graduation.”
Windsor High School Vice-principal Carol Adams agreed. “I doubt
very much that they’ll postpone it again,” she said. “All students
will need to pass it to get their high school diploma.”
Pilar estimates that between 40 and 50 percent of sophomores at
Windsor High School will pass the test the first time through.
Those who fail will have six more opportunities to pass before
graduation in June of 2006.
The test has two separate sections: language arts and math. If a
student passes one but not the other, he or she will only have to
make up the failed section. After school tutoring for CAHSEE is
available at the high school.
Students at Windsor High School didn’t feel the test was
difficult.
“It wasn’t hard; it was boring,” said Mayme Kwitkor. She said
she was nervous before she took the test, and was relieved when she
saw the questions.
“We didn’t know how hard it was going to be and that messed with
your mind,” she said. “It’s stuff we should have had before high
school. It’s not a college level test.”
Ana Gonzalez, who learned English in school as a second
language, didn’t find the math test very difficult. “It was kind of
easy,” she said. She did say the reading section of the test was
more difficult than the math.
The students spent approximately nine hours taking the tests
last week, and will sit through another 12 hours of testing next
month when they take the STAR test.
“That’s a lot of testing,” said Pilar.