AceYour Exit Exam

CAHSEE Prep

Many California students have learned English as their second language. How do ESL students fair on the CAHSEE when compared to their native English speaking counterparts? This is an interesting question that has a wide array of political implications. The data on this seems to be inconclusive and as you might expect, the longer a student has been in local schools, the more their performance resembles their native speaking peers. Many bilingual schools have students that actually outperform their peers in many standardized exams. Recently the New York Times actually lauded the benefits of being bilingual in an interesting article. They actually suggest that being bilingual can actually make you smarter. What do you think?

One of the most stressful times during preparations for the CAHSEE is the week before testing begins. While many students feel this is the perfect time to cram in as much last minute information as possible, that is actually one of the least effective ways to utilize these final preparation days.

Review Old Knowledge

Instead of trying to memorize new concepts at the last minute, use the final week of preparation to review all of the areas you have already covered. This is especially important for the areas you concentrated on at the beginning of your studies. While it may seem like you have already begun to forget the concepts you studied in the beginning, a brief overview is all you really need to freshen up your mind. If you had problem areas during your studies, focus on reviewing those as well, keeping the more difficult areas as fresh in your mind as possible. Studies have shown that learning for comprehension is much more effective than learning for memorization. This is the main reason why cramming at the last minute rarely does any good.

Prepare Your Body A Well As Your Mind

While everyone knows that you're supposed to get a good night's sleep the night before the exam and eat a well balanced breakfast the morning of, they should also realize the importance of being well rested and well fed for more than just the night before and day of. Experts have found that getting a full night's sleep the entire week before the exam can greatly reduce stress levels and decrease anxiety on test day. Eating a full breakfast on exam day is important, but if you're not used to eating a full breakfast, it can actually cause more discomfort than good. Get yourself in the habit of eating breakfast for several days before the exam if you don't already do so.

The hardest part of the CAHSEE to prepare for, according to most students, is the writing section. This is not only the section with the most room for interpretation, it is also the one that relies on the sum of a substantial amount of knowledge as opposed to being able to excel at specific areas. It requires you to take all of your English skills and use them in conjunction with one another to create a cohesive and well written passage on a specified topic using your mastery of the English language.

The best way to begin preparation is to ensure you have a basic mastery of the English language. The writing section focuses strongly on grammar, spelling and punctuation. While these are all broad ares to cover when preparing for the CAHSEE, most students do tend to have basic knowledge of all of them. While basic knowledge is one thing, it is also important to know which areas you need to spend the most time concentrating on when trying to improve. Take advantage of grammar and spelling checkers and don't be afraid to get as much feedback from others as possible, including teachers and family.

While it is easy to find a multitude of practice questions for the reading assessment, the writing section can be a slight bit trickier. There are, however, several sample topics that can be found that have either been used in past exams or are close enough in nature to actual exam passages to be able to give you a accurate idea of what to expect. Use as many of these practice topics as you can to focus on your writing skills and ability to adapt to topics as they are presented to you.

The more comfortable you are with your writing ability, the easier the writing section of the test will be come exam day. Remember your CAHSEE preparation could make the difference between graduating and not graduating; take it seriously and get the job done!

While most students expect the math section of the CAHSEE to be the most difficult, many report post-exam that they were prepared less for the English section of the exam. While the math section focuses on six major ares, the English section only has two, reading and writing. Sounds simple enough right? For most students who don't properly prepare for the exam ahead of time, it can be very difficult.

The reading section of the test is all multiple choice and focuses on basic skills such as vocabulary and reading comprehension. The best way to prepare for this section of the exam is to take as many practice exams and answer as many sample questions as you can find. This not only gives you a firm grasp on the way the actual exam questions will be structured and worded, it also helps you identify which areas you may need to focus the most amount of time on. The more comfortable you are with the specific format of this section, the better your chances will be of doing well on it. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the task of reading a passage and then having to answer multiple questions all related to that single passage. While it my sound simple, many students have a hard time focusing on a longer passage and having to rely on it for the answer to several questions. You also need to train yourself to be able to switch gears when the next passage is presented and has its own set of questions to go along with it.

The more time you spend focusing on the way the questions are laid out and the general areas they tend to focus on, the easier it becomes to truly read the passage presented for comprehension and be able to pull the necessary information needed from it to answer the questions correctly. Diligent CAHSEE preparation is the absolute key to success on exam day.

The EGPNews ran an interesting article recently on a few proposals for school reform in southern California. The staff over at EGP created a guide that outlined the strategies and methodologies of several proposals to increase academic performance. The proposals were targeted specifically at improving student achievement at Garfield, Lincoln and Esteban Torres High Schools and Luther Burbank Middle School. These are all schools in various parts of southern California that have performed poorly on assessments like the California High School Exit Exam(CAHSEE), STAR exam and others. The contrast in approaches to solving the achievement problem outlined in the proposals was quite interesting. If you are interested in reading a little more about the process click here.

The detractors of the California High School Exit Exam(CAHSEE) once again have more fodder for their arguments against the use of the CAHSEE as a graduation requirement in public high schools. A new study shows that students who feel they will be unable to pass the CAHSEE are more likely to drop out of high school than their counterparts. While this may be driven by the perception of the students, teachers and administrators have been largely ineffective as a whole in instilling confidence in these types of students. The drop-out rates are harsh evidence of this fact and there does not seem to be any substantive change on the horizon. The reality that many schools face is harsh and the prospects of improvement seem dim. Not all signs are bad however, San Bernadino county recently reported a reduction in the drop-out rate and while the numbers are still alarmingly high, it certainly is a step in the right direction. To read more about the impact that the CAHSEE is having on San Bernadino county schools click here.

In a recent article, Andrew Spittle analyzed several components of student achievement in rural and urban school districts. It is commonly known that rural students spend far more time than their urban counterparts traveling to and from school. Does this affect their achievement? Could a more urban school system benefit students by freeing up more of their day? Andrew answers these questions in his article: Transportation costs and student achievement

Five California teachers were honored by State Superintendent Jack O'Connell as 2010 Teachers of the Year. Kelly Kovacic who teaches Social Studies at The Preuss School, Amber Carrow who teaches World History at Chemawa Middle School in Riverside, Melanie Tolan who teaches English-language arts, History, and Physical Education at the Sarah Anthony School, Valerie Ziegler who teaches U.S. History, Economics, and Advanced Placement U.S. Government at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, and Kathy R. Marvin who teaches Physical Science at Sierra Vista Middle School in Irvine, were the five educators who received the prestigious honor. Read More