The authors use the findings to question the wisdom of spending millions to tutor older students struggling with the test.
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles
Times Staff Writer
June 11, 2008
As early as fourth grade, students who will be at risk of failing the high
school exit exam -- a state requirement to earn a diploma -- can be identified
based on grades, classroom behavior and test scores, according to a new study
released Tuesday.
The findings, based on an extensive study of student achievement in San Diego
schools, call into question the effectiveness of aiming significant efforts and
tens of millions of dollars at struggling high school seniors and older students
to help them pass the exam.
"From a political standpoint, such spending seems necessary. However, our
results strongly suggest that these 11th-hour interventions by themselves are
unlikely to yield the intended results," according to the
report by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Instead, the authors suggested, "moving a portion of these tutoring dollars to
struggling students in earlier grades -- when the students are still in school
-- could be a wise choice. An ounce of prevention could indeed be worth a pound
of cure."
Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara), who wrote legislation that provides
more than $72 million annually for two years to tutor seniors who couldn't pass
the exam, said it would be unfair to reduce support for older students to pay
for increased support for younger ones.
"I suppose they should sit down with the parents of these kids who are looking
at failing the [exit] exam and persuade these parents that they don't need the
money," Nava said. "Inherent in the conclusion of the report is that education
needs help at all levels. We shouldn't be put in a position where we are pitting
the outcomes of seniors against the future of preschoolers. That makes no
sense."
State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said school districts ought to
have greater flexibility in how they spend such funds.
"We need to have comprehensive intervention and not wait till 12th grade," he
said.
Additionally, he said, the study underscored the need for universal preschool,
as well as expanding the state's class-size reduction efforts.
The exit exam was created by state legislators in an effort to standardize the
achievement of high school graduates across the state's 1,053 school districts.
Students in the class of 2006 were the first who were required to pass the exam
to receive diplomas.
From their sophomore through senior years, students have six chances to take the
exam, which includes math and English. Students must score at least 55% on the
math portion, which is eighth-grade level, and 60% on the English part, which is
ninth- or 10th-grade level. More than 93% of students pass the exam by the end
of their senior year.
Educators said the study results are buttressed by earlier research that shows
early academic achievement, the mastering of basic math skills and reading
comprehension, is a building block for future success.
"We've recognized for a long time that performance in the earlier grades is one
of the best indicators of success later in school and in life," said Chris
Eftychiou, spokesman for the Long Beach Unified School District.
At Pasadena High School, guidance counselor Allison Steppes said she worried
that social promotion and lack of parental involvement led to some students
passing through elementary schools without mastering basic skills.
"I don't think we're doing enough at the elementary stages because it's
ridiculous to get to 12th grade, take the [exit exam] six times and still not
pass it," she said.
But she questioned the validity of a student retaking the test after failing it
half a dozen times. Steppes said she advised students who repeatedly failed the
exam but finished 12th grade to get their high school degree at a community
college, which does not require students to pass the exam.
"I want the student to move on with life," she said.
seema.mehta@latimes.com