Frequently Asked Questions

(CAHSEE) California High School Exit Exam

1. What is "CAHSEE"?

"CAHSEE" refers to the California High School Exit Exam.

2. Who must take the CAHSEE?

Students graduating in 2006 and beyond must take the exam.

3. Why do students take the CAHSEE for the first time in grade 10 instead of grade 11 or 12?

Requiring the exam to be taken for the first time in grade 10 provides students who are unsuccessful with additional opportunities to pass the CAHSEE. It is also being used by California for NCLB compliance.

4. What about students who are not fluent in English?

English learners are required to take the CAHSEE in grade 10 with all students. These students must complete six months of instruction in reading, writing, and comprehension in English during the first 24 months of enrollment in the California school system. They are required to take the CAHSEE during this time. All students must pass the CAHSEE in English to receive their high school diploma.

5. Will students with special needs have to take the CAHSEE?

Yes. Students with special needs must pass the CAHSEE to receive a high school diploma and must be allowed to take the CAHSEE with accommodations or modifications as specified in their Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 Plan for classroom or statewide testing. Students who take the test using a modification will receive an invalidated test score. However, if the invalidated test score is the equivalent to a passing score(i.e.350 or higher), the district may submit a waiver request on behalf of the student to waive the requirement of successful passage of one or both parts of the CAHSEE to receive a diploma.

6. What if parents do not want their student tested?

All students must pass the CAHSEE in order to receive a high school diploma from a California public school, beginning with the graduating class of 2006.

7. Who decided what the CAHSEE should cover?

A High School Exit Examination Standards Panel, appointed by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, reviewed state content standards in English-language arts and mathematics and recommended what they believed a student should know and be able to do to graduate from high school.

8. What does the English-language arts part of the CAHSEE cover?

The English-language arts part of the CAHSEE addresses state content standards through grade 10. In reading, this includes vocabulary, decoding, comprehension, and analysis of information and literary texts. In writing, this covers writing strategies, applications, and the conventions of standard English (e.g., grammar, spelling, and punctuation). The English-Language Arts portion of the exam is divided into two sections and is administered over two days.

9. What does the mathematics part of the CAHSEE cover?

The mathematics part of the CAHSEE addresses state standards in grades 6, 7, and algebra 1. The exam includes statistics, data analysis and probability, number sense, measurement and geometry, mathematical reasoning, and algebra. Students also are asked to demonstrate a strong foundation in computation and arithmetic, including working with decimals, fractions, and percents. The Mathematics portion of the exam is divided into two sections but is administered on the same day with a break in between.

10. How can parents help their student pass the test?

There are many resources on the CDE (California Department of Education) website to assist teachers/students in covering the required material such as released test questions, teacher guides, and test blueprints. Visit the website at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/resources.asp

11. What happens if students don’t pass the CAHSEE?

Students who do not pass one or both parts of the CAHSEE in Grade 10 may have an opportunity to retake the test two times in grade 11, two times in grade 12, and once after grade 12. Students retake only the part(s) of the exam not previously passed. All 12th graders that would like to have the opportunity to return the following year for more opportunities to attempt to pass the CAHSEE, must attend all three testing opportunities during their 12th grade year.

12. If a student takes and passes the high school exit exam, do they have to continue taking it each grade until graduation?

No, as each part is passed, they are not allowed to take each section over again. They have completed that requirement.

13. If the students takes the CAHSEE and passes it with another school, do they have to take it and pass it with an IEM Charter School?

No. They do not have to retake the test if it has already been passed, although they are responsible to provide their exam results to the IEM Assessment office. Please send a copy of their results to: IEM, Assessment Dept, 1166 Broadway, Suite Q, Placerville, CA 95667.

15. Can 9th grade students take the exam?

No, it is not allowed.

16. Can a student choose to leave the school after 12th grade, having met all other graduation requirements, to return for one more opportunity to pass the exam? Procedure for enrolling student for 1-2 days for CAHSEE:

*Procedure for enrolling/activating previously enrolled 12th grade students short term in order to attempt CAHSEE* : Parent/student needing this service calls Assessment Dept.
Assessment emails/calls CAHSEE Test Site Coordinator Assessment emails/calls Student Assignment with student information and request to assign them to the site coordinator(regardless of student count since it is very short term) Site Coordinator prints out SA and Attendance rollsheet for the student and brings with them to the test site Parent/student signs the SA and attendance at the test site ES also creates a 1-2 day learning record Site Coordinator mails in SA, attendance roll sheet (with a note stating that this was a 1-2 day student activation for testing), and drop form(using drop code: 360 )