A. Background
The CAHSEE Program
was established by Senate Bill 2, O'Connell in spring 1999. The CAHSEE
serves two purposes:
- to improve
student achievement in high school and
- to help ensure
that students who graduate from high school can demonstrate competency
in the content standards for reading, writing, and mathematics,
adopted by the State Board of Education.
Beginning with
the graduating class of 2004, all students in California public schools
will have to pass all sections of the CAHSEE to receive a high school
diploma. It is essential that schools do everything possible to ensure
that all eleventh grade students who have not previously taken the
CAHSEE or who did not pass both parts of the exam last spring take
the test, including English learners and special education students.
Students must have many opportunities to meet the CAHSEE requirement
for a high school diploma and to receive appropriate instruction on
the standards covered by the test.
The CAHSEE has
two sections - a Reading/Writing section and a Mathematics section.
The Reading/Writing section of the test covers the California State
English/Language Arts Content Standards through grade 10 and has both
multiple-choice questions and writing tasks. The reading portion of
the test covers vocabulary, informational reading, and literary reading.
This portion will include 50 percent literary texts and 50 percent
informational texts. The texts will be appropriate and accessible
to students in grade 10 who perform at a basic level. The writing
portion will cover writing strategies, applications, and conventions.
It will have one written response to literature and one written response
not related to a reading text.
The Mathematics
section of the test covers the California State Mathematics Content
Standards through Algebra I and consists of multiple choice questions.
B. Testing
Schedule
The following
is the statewide testing administration schedule for the CAHSEE. There
is no provision for make-up testing on the CAHSEE.
C. Who Must
Test?
Schools must
offer the opportunity to take the CAHSEE to all eleventh grade students
who have not previously taken the CAHSEE or who did not pass both
parts of the exam last spring, including English learners and special
education students.
English Learner
(EL) Students
All EL students
are required to take the CAHSEE. The district may defer the requirement
for ELs to be tested for up to 24 months from their enrollment in
a California public school, until the student has completed six months
of instruction in reading, writing, and comprehension in English.
The student must then pass the CAHSEE in English to receive a high
school diploma.
Special Education
Students and 504 Students
Special Education/504
students must pass the CAHSEE to receive a high school diploma. The
CAHSEE may be administered with appropriate accommodations/adaptations
as required in each student's Individualized Education Program (IEP)
or 504 Plan. The attachment indicates the accommodations/adaptations
that the state considers not to modify what the test measures. Students
may use these accommodations/adaptations and the test administration
is considered standard.
The following are NOT allowed because they have been determined to
fundamentally alter what the test measures and are therefore considered
to be modifications.
Modifications are:
- use of calculators
on the math portion of the test
- audio or oral
presentation of the English/language arts portion of the test
- responding
to writing items with the use of a transcriber, mechanical or electronic
transcribing devices and/or spell check devices/software.
However, the State
Board of Education has adopted a waiver policy that will allow
students with disabilities to use necessary modifications when taking
the test, thereby ensuring those students will have a full opportunity
to earn a diploma. Under the waiver policy, only students with disabilities
who have an IEP/504 plan that clearly details their need for modification,
will be able to use those modifications while taking CAHSEE. Districts
will then be permitted to apply to the California Department of Education
(CDE) for a waiver on behalf of these students who earn the equivalent
of a passing score or above on one or both sections of the CAHSEE
with the use of such modifications. If the waiver is approved
by CDE, the student will NOT have to re-take and pass that section
of the CAHSEE to receive a high school diploma.
D. Administration
of Examinations
It is imperative
that all instructions in the School Coordinator's Manual and the Directions
for Administration be followed carefully. Note particularly those
sections that describe testing and security procedures (including
procedures for the safekeeping and accounting of all test materials).
It is critical that persons administering the test are completely
familiar with the directions in the manual for sorting, packaging,
sealing, and returning CAHSEE tests to the Testing Unit.
E. Pick-Up
and Return of Testing Materials
Schools will
be notified of availability for pickup of site materials upon district
receipt of CAHSEE materials.
All scorable
answer documents and all non-scorable materials are to be returned
to the Testing Unit, Annex 10, by 4 p.m., Friday, July 26, 2002.
Each principal should complete all certification forms and return
them according to the process outlined in the School Coordinator's
Manual.
Schools need
to ensure that all directions in this circular, the School Coordinator's
Manual, and other materials provided by the state are closely
followed to ensure correct processing and packaging of CAHSEE test
materials.
School Coordinators
should refer to the Specific School Coordinator Responsibilities
after Testing section of the School Coordinator's Manual
for complete return instructions for each individual CAHSEE test.
It is critical that persons administering the various tests are
completely familiar with and follow the repackaging instructions
in the manual.
Remember:
- All student
forms must include the student's official, complete, and
correctly spelled first and last name (as in the district's
Student Information System) and the correct student ID number.
- Tests must
be sorted and repacked correctly.
- All
materials must be counted, verified, and banded together.
