Sophomores from LAUSD make progress

Sophomores at Los Angeles Unified School District showed slight gains on a key test that measures English and math skills needed for high school graduation, district officials said Tuesday.

Sixty-five percent of LAUSD sophomores passed the California High School Exit Exam, given in March, on their first try. The test is mandatory for students to graduate from high school, although they can take it multiple times.

While the district's performance lags behind statewide figures showing roughly 80.6 percent of sophomores in California passed the test in 2010, the LAUSD numbers show year-over-year gains since CAHSEE was first implemented in 2004. Back then, only 44 percent of LAUSD sophomores passed the test.

Cynthia Lim, executive director of LAUSD's Office of Data and Accountability, believes preparation is helping more students succeed on the test, pointing to diagnostic testing that now starts in the ninth grade, a process that was implemented two years ago.

The Daniel Pearl Magnet High School in Lake Balboa saw 94 percent of its sophomores pass the test, putting the school in the top four, according to LAUSD's figures.

"It feels glorious," said Janet Kiddoo, principal of Daniel Pearl Magnet. She credits the small size of the 300-student school, and the "vigorous"

enthusiasm of its 14 teachers.

"These teachers tutor on their lunch hours...and before and after school, they come in on Saturdays," said Kiddoo. "I've never seen anything like it."

On the other end of the spectrum is Jordan High School in Watts, where just 36 percent of the 10th graders passed the test. Characterizing the school as "underachieving," Lim said Jordan High School will be restructured, and broken into smaller schools, by LAUSD.

In the demographic breakdowns of the test results, 88 percent of Asian sophomores passed the exam on the first time, compared to 83 percent of whites, 62 percent of Latinos and 54 percent of African Americans.

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18130744?source=rss

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