District officials working to help English-language learners
Morgan Hill – Last year’s 10th grade students in the Morgan Hill Unified School District took the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) for the first time this past spring, and an overwhelming majority passed.
Results released by the California Department of Education on Tuesday show 85 percent of the district’s 10th graders passed the English/language arts portion of the exam on the first try, and 82 percent passed the math portion.
Because they passed, 619 10th graders won’t need to take the English/language arts portion of the test again, and 590 won’t have to worry about taking math portion again.
All California students must pass now to receive a high school diploma. The Class of 2006 was the first to be held to the requirement, though the test has been in place since 2001.
“We’re happy with our scores; can we get better? I believe so,” MHUSD Superintendent Alan Nishino said Friday. “Our goal is to have all of our 10th graders pass on their first try.”
Districtwide, 69 percent of those tested in the spring – which included 11th and 12th graders, as well as 10th graders – passed the math portion of the exam, and 71 percent passed the English/language arts portion.
In Santa Clara County, 66 percent of students passed math and 65 percent passed English/language arts. Comparing MHUSD’s results to statewide results, the district again comes out on top, with 59 percent of students tested in the state passing math and 61 percent passing English/language arts.
Within the district, 503 Live Oak High students took the math part of the exam and 67 percent of those passed, while 519 took the English/language arts part and 65 percent passed. Fewer Sobrato High students took the tests, 453 were tested in math and 452 in English/language arts, with 78 percent and 81 percent passing, respectively.
“Those numbers are from the total population, including kids who are taking it for the first time, kids who have taken it before and kids who are special education students and English language learners,” Sobrato High Principal Rich Knapp said. “We are pleased overall, but still concerned. We are looking carefully at how our ELL (English language learners) students and our special ed students are doing. They are still not passing at the rate we’d like them to pass. We need to put more resources into helping them be more successful.”
Nishino said Knapp’s concerns are not specific to Sobrato High.
“Statewide, those concerns are similar,” he said. “We are looking at a variety of methodologies to address the needs of these students. We already have some things in place, such as Advanced Academics, an Internet-based program. But we’re putting other things in place that we think will give us the ability to handle whatever the state throws at us.”
Nishino said the district will be adding more intervention classes to help those students identified as likely to need help. The alignment of curriculum to state standards and the creation of what he calls a “coherent curriculum” in the district will make a difference, he said.
“We’re also going to push the envelope a little bit,” he added. “Our kids can do more than we think they can. With algebra being a requirement in eighth grade, that will introduce that particular set of skills to them at an earlier age. I think that was part of the problem before, that some of these kids, like the ELL and special ed kids, were not being exposed to algebra before they took the exam.”
