HART DISTRICT EXCELS ON EXIT EXA MORE THAN 75% OF STUDENTS PASS TESTS.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- More than 75 percent of Hart district students passed English and math on the California High School Exit Exam, putting the district above the county and state averages, according to results released Tuesday.

The exam is broken in two portions, and the William S. Hart Union High School District had 77 percent of students pass the English portion of the exam and 76 percent pass the math portion.

Students start taking the exam in the 10th grade and have a total of six chances to pass, and last year was the first time they had to pass the test to graduate. Because they failed the exam, 29 seniors didn't graduate, while more than 2,600 students did.

``We're pleased with the high percentage of students who passed the first time they take the test in the 10th grade,'' said Vicki Engbrecht, the Hart district's director of curriculum and assessment.

Eighty-nine percent of 10th-graders in the district's high schools passed the English portion of the test and 88 percent passed the math portion.

``We need to continue to work harder with the 11th-graders and the 12th-graders who still haven't passed,'' she said. ``Statistics show that each time a student takes the test and is not successful, their chance of passing the test goes down.''

Sixty-one percent of students statewide and 58 percent of Los Angeles County students passed the English portion of the exam. For the math portion, 59 percent passed statewide and 54 percent passed in the county.

In a sign the district has not closed the ``achievement gap'' that plagues other school districts, only 47 percent of socioeconomically disadvantaged students passed the English portion of the exam and 52 percent passed the math portion.

Among students learning English, often immigrants from other countries, 33 percent passed the English portion of the exam and 43 percent passed the math portion.

``The English-learner subgroup seems to have particular difficulty with the English language arts because half of the exam is an essay, and that is usually very challenging for our non-native speakers,'' Engbrecht said. ``With the math, there are quite a few word problems. But the bottom line is we just need to work harder to improve the math skills of our English learners.''

West Ranch High School, which has a younger student base, had the highest scores on the exit exam of any school in the district. It opened in 2004 with only a freshman class, and as that class has advanced in years the school has added grades. Now, the school goes up to 11th grade and will add a 12th grade next year.

``We attribute our students' success on the California High School Exit Exam to their hard work, their excellent teachers and their supportive parents,'' said Principal Bob Vincent.

In addition to the 29 students districtwide who were barred from graduating because they did not pass the exit exam, 84 students from comprehensive high schools were barred from graduating because they did not finish their course requirements, Engbrecht said.

The state this year allowed exempted special-education students from the requirement to pass the exit exam to graduate, and the Hart district had about 130 students qualify for that exemption.

The students who failed to pass the exam got another chance in July, but the Hart district hasn't received results on how many passed from that administration of the test.

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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