Passing the CAHSEE

As another California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) has come and gone, students collectively agree it is one of the most easiest graduation requirements. It can also be shown from one of the released math questions asking test takers to find x when the problem is -x=7.

After freshmen took the piloting test in 2001, sophomores have sinced excelled at the test, with CVHS most recently earning a pass rate of 95 percent in both the English and math sections from the 2012-2013 testing period.

Surrounding school districts have also done comparatively well. San Leandro tenth graders had a total passing rate of 74 percent in math and 78 percent in English, while Hayward students had rates of 70 percent and 75 percent.

“The test went like this for me: I freaked out, I tested, I laughed, it was that simple,” said CVHS graduate Kayla Turney.

For the past 13 years CVHS has always had an overwhelming number of people who passed the tests. On average, there have been 650 students who take the test every year and around 90 percent pass the math on the first try while 92 percent pass the English.

Students who are English language learners or in the special education program had an 80 percent pass rate.

“I finished the math portion of the test within 20 minutes,” said sophomore Celeste Wong. “It was so easy.”

A released test from 2008 is currently online for practice and a simple question such writing 0.0000007, or fixing the grammatical error in “After, the volcano erupted, the tiny island was quiet and devastated.”

Not only are the questions easy, there are plenty of opportunities to pass the test, considering that people who failed can retake it until they graduate from high school. This provides a fair chance at meeting one of the main high school graduation requirements.