The California High School Exit Exam is a mandatory graduation requirement for all public school students and is designed to ensure that all high school graduates have a solid foundation in math and language arts, based on state standards. High school students are required to take the CAHSEE for the first time in the 10th grade. Students that fail the exam in the 10th grade are given two more opportunities in the 11th grade and five more in the 12th grade to pass the exam. The class of 2006 was the first graduating class required to pass the exam.

This year, 78 percent of Gilroy's tenth graders passed the CAHSEE, an improvement over last year's 71 percent, according to data released by the California Department of Education.

"The most important thing to say is that we're moving in the right direction," said Basha Millhollen, assistant superintendent of educational services.

"We were pleasantly surprised," she added of the 7 percentage point increase. "There's evidence that if you pass the CAHSEE, kids will stay in school."

Her goal for the district is to hit the 84 percent mark, she said.

"I am very proud of all the students who have met the exit exam requirement," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said. "I also urge any student who has yet to pass the test not to give up and to keep working to meet this important goal. Our schools will not give up on students who need additional help to master these critical skills."

According to state data, Gilroy high schools, which include the Dr. T.J. Owens Gilroy Early College Academy, Gilroy Community Day School, Gilroy High School, MACSA El Portal Leadership Academy, and Mount Madonna High School, saw an 80 percent passage rate in math and a 78 percent passage rate in language arts at the 10th grade level, falling behind county rates of 85 percent for math and 84 percent for language arts. Statewide, 78 percent of 10th graders taking the exit exam passed the math portion and 79 passed language arts.

The percentage of sophomores at GHS who passed the exam, however, surpassed the state averages. English learners and socioeconomically disadvantaged students at GHS also achieved at a higher rate than their counterparts both countywide and statewide.

Yet only 33 percent of special education students at GHS passed the math portion of the CAHSEE, lagging 14 percentage points behind the county and 2 percentage points behind the state in math.

The gap between state, county and district special education students was even wider in language arts. Only 24 percent of 10th grade special education students at GHS passed the language arts section of the CAHSEE, 22 percentage points behind the county and 11 percentage points behind the state.

"I have to look into that," Millhollen said of the lower test scores for special education students, preferring not to speculate until she had more time to examine the results. "Whenever we haven't compared well with the county and state, that's an indicator that we need to look into the issue."

This is the first year special education students, who were exempt from the exam requirement in previous years, had to pass the exam to graduate.

Another significant gap exists between the number of Hispanic students and the number of white students at GHS passing the CAHSEE in the 10th grade. Ninety-two percent of white students passed the math exam compared to 77 percent of Hispanic students, and 97 percent of white students passed the language arts portion compared to 73 percent of Hispanic students. Although the gap ranges from 15 percentage points in math to 24 percentage points in language arts, the school is making strides to close the rift. Last year, the gap was nearly twice as large on the math portion.

Percentage of 10th graders passing CAHSEE

District

Math: 80%

Language Arts: 78%

County

Math: 85%

Language Arts: 84%

State

Math: 78%

Language Arts: 79%