Half of high schools met U.S. goals

State Deputy Supt. Deb Sigman said the federal government mandated that high schools be rated via a test that all students take -- which made measuring math especially difficult. That's because high school students take math courses based on skill and personal preference, not grade level. By contrast, all students take the exit exam, so it fit federal rules, Sigman said.

"The state Education Department and the [state] Board of Education were in a difficult position when they had to choose a measure," Sigman added, and the exit exam "filled the bill. So it had to be retrofitted to do that."

The state required a somewhat higher score on the exit exam for a student to be counted as proficient for the purposes of complying with No Child Left Behind. Nonetheless, a student could pass the math portion of the test without answering a single algebra question correctly.

Sigman acknowledged that the original reason for using the exit exam no longer applies. The federal government now allows many states more leeway.

In the meantime, proficiency based on the exit exam hasn't kept pace with what students are supposed to learn.

For federal compliance, half the students at Fairfax High were proficient in math last year. But only 17% of students actually scored proficient or better in the math course they took -- regardless of the level of difficulty. That's well under the current requirement that 32.2% of high school students be proficient in math.

Fairfax Principal Ed Zubiate, whose school has improved by multiple measures, sees a legitimate justification for using the exit exam. The results matter to students because it affects their graduation. "We're able to use that as a motivator," he said.

But Glendale Unified School District Supt. Mike Escalante considers the exit exam a poor cousin in a comparatively sophisticated state system: "It amazes me they would use such a simple standard."

All five Glendale Unified high schools made their federal targets, but two would have fallen short if the state had relied on tests measuring what students had learned in their math classes.

Nearly a decade ago, exit exam foes worried that even this rudimentary test would deny diplomas to students at schools that failed to impart basic skills. Having a second reason for the exam bolstered its political prospects.