Thousands of California high school students will get the extra help they need to pass the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) thanks to CTA lobbying efforts. A record $69.5 million has been included in the 2006-07 state budget to provide a variety of educational services to students who have not passed the mandatory examination.
Under state law, students cannot receive a high school diploma without passing both the English and math segments of the exit.
Although the California Department of Education recently announced that 91.4 percent of seniors in the class of 2006 — the first graduating class required to pass the exam — have now cleared the hurdle, approximately 37,755 are still struggling with the requirement.
While the state implemented support programs for these students in 2005-06, it is only in this year’s budget that the state is making a substantial financial commitment to these programs.
The new funds can be used in a variety of ways
— from providing more counseling, individual tutoring and small group instruction to adding more teachers who will be able to give more individual attention to eligible students.
Funding may also be used for additional training for teachers to help them meet students’ special needs and to provide instruction tailored to students’ needs.
CTA’s successful effort to secure the funds is only part of its long-standing focus on making California’s student assessment and evaluation system fairer and more effective. CTA has urged lawmakers to do more than provide funding to help struggling students. It has sought to provide alternative methods of assessing when students have met state standards and earned the right to graduate.
CTA believes there should be multiple assessment measures as an alternative to a single high-stakes test that can keep students from graduating even though they may have provided ample evidence of their mastery of skills through classwork and grades.
Len Feldman