California High School Exit Examination

¶ … California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) About the Assessment Tool The assessment tool I have chosen is the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). All California High School seniors, other than those with disabilities, must past this exit exam in order to receive a high school diploma. The test first made its debut on the California high school classroom in 2001, but did not become a mandatory requirement for graduation until in 2006.

It was developed in response to the push for standardized testing that emerged as a result of high school graduates exhibiting significant deficiencies in basic academic knowledge and skills. Standardized testing has played an important role in school reform in the last decade. This is due in large part to the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) in 2002. The NCLBA has significantly altered the focus of educational accountability. According to Cooper et al.

(2004) "There has been a shift in the focus and emphasis of accountability systems, with more emphasis on measuring student performance and assigning responsibility for results" (p. 192). The CASHEE instrument is divided into two primary sections, the first being English-language arts and the second being mathematics. This is so that the test will evaluate both the "right brain" and "left brain" abilities of the test-takers, i.e. their creative side and their logical side. The English-language arts section focuses on both reading and writing.

In reading, the exam covers "vocabulary, decoding, comprehension, and analysis of information and literary texts." In writing, the exam "covers writing strategies, applications, and the conventions of English (e.g. grammar, spelling, and punctuation)." The mathematics section focuses on "statistics, data analysis and probability, number sense, measurement and geometry, mathematical reasoning, and algebra.

Students are also asked to demonstrate a strong foundation in computation and arithmetic, including working with decimals, fractions, and percents." ("Overview," 2011) How is the Assessment Used? Although it is not required to pass the test until senior year, students in California actually take the test every year from 10th grade on.

According to the California Department of Education, "Students who do not pass one or both parts of the CAHSEE in grade ten may take the parts not passed up to two times per school year in grade eleven and up to five times per school year in grade twelve" (Overview, 2011). Because it is a required exam, there are no fees to take it and the tests are taken during regular school hours.

"Approximately 630 local educational agencies (LEAs) administer the CAHSEE on testing dates designated by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI)" ("California," 2011), Norm-Referenced or Criterion Referenced? The CAHSEE is a criterion-referenced examination because it is designed to measure what the students know, as opposed to how their knowledge compares with what other students know. According to the California Department of Education, the CASHEE "is aligned to the California academic content standards in English-language arts and mathematics adopted by the State Board of Education" ("California," 2011).

Aptitude or Achievement? The CASHEE is an achievement test because it measures what students have learned, as opposed to what their potential for learning is. Although it is designed to help prepare high school students to do well in college in the sense that it ensures that they have the basic skills they need before they graduate high school, it does not test or attempt to predict how well they will do in college.

Is it a Standardized Test? It is a standardized test because it is designed to meet state content standards, and also because it is graded electronically and objectively. In other words, there is no subjective assessment involved such as how well the student writes an essay. It is all multiple choice. Assessment Bias As with all standardized tests, there is concern that the CASHEE is biased against students with learning disabilities, as well as students for whom English is a second language.

Of additional concern is that regardless of their educational background, minority students' standardized test scores are consistently lower.