One in 10 California high school seniors will not receive a diploma this month because they failed the state's high school exit exam, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Education. Students who are Latino, black, English learners or poor were disproportionately represented in the failure rates.
State Supt. Jack O'Connell urged the 41,758 seniors across the state who had not passed the exam to continue striving to receive their diploma, in summer school, independent study or community college.
"Their education is simply not complete, but they are still welcome and still part of the public-school family," he said. "We will find a place to help them prepare for their future."
Under state legislation approved seven years ago, the class of 2006 is the first that must pass the exam, which tests basic math and language-arts skills, to earn a diploma.
Beginning in their sophomore year, students have six chances to take the exam. A score of at least 55% on the math portion, which is geared to an eighth-grade level, and 60% on the English, which is ninth- or 10th-grade level, is required.
The passage rates released by the state Thursday include results for students who have taken the exam through March, but do not include May scores. Those results will be available this summer, but not before schools across the state hold ceremonies and award diplomas.
Some districts are allowing students who have not passed the exam to participate in commencement ceremonies if they meet other requirements. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the 2,564 seniors who have not yet passed the exam will be allowed to walk with their classmates if they meet all coursework requirements; took part in a remediation program; retook the exam their senior year; and enrolled in a summer program to prepare for the test in July or October.
About 86% of the district's seniors, or 25,779 students, have passed the exam, according to the district.
"I believe this is a test students should be able to pass," Los Angeles Supt. Roy Romer said in a written statement. "We will now make every effort to provide supplemental instruction in the summer months to those remaining students who will need to pass the [exit exam] to receive diplomas."
Statewide, white and Asian students were more likely than their Latino and black classmates to pass the exam. English learners had the worst rate of passage, with 1 in 4 unable to pass the exam.
