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Dave Brooks

High school students in Huntington Beach continued to perform well on

the California High School Exit Exam this year, outpacing their

counterparts throughout the state and county.

The results from this year’s exam show that 88% of sophomores in

Huntington Beach passed the test this year, the exact same rate as

last year.

Next year’s seniors are the first class required to pass the test

to graduate, and Huntington Beach Union High School District

curriculum director Connie Mayhugh said educators are working

together to help the remaining group of students whose graduation

status is in trouble.

“We are looking at implementing things for students who still have

not passed,” she said. “We are doing everything we can to help

students in achieving that goal.”

That includes assisting students with learning disabilities and

those who don’t speak English as a primary language.

“It’s really tough for some students, but we are planning to offer

them targeted curriculum to help them pass,” she said.

On the Standardized Testing and Reporting program, students in

Huntington Beach’s two elementary school districts showed strong

improvement overall and showed across-the-board gains for nearly

every grade.

The state scores the standardized tests on a five-level system.

Advanced is the highest level, followed by proficient, basic, below

basic and far below basic. Students must achieve proficient or

advanced levels to meet the state’s goals.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires all students to

score proficient or above by 2014.

Every grade in the Huntington Beach City School District from

second to seventh improved its proficiency score in math and English

language arts, and outpaced both the state and county averages.

On average, 66% of city district students were proficient in math,

and 65% were proficient in English.

This year’s strongest gains were in second-grade math, with nearly

half the class scoring in the advanced category, and in fourth-grade

English arts, where students’ scores went up 8%.

Oceanview School District posted even larger gains, improving its

number of proficient students in all grades in both English and math.

On average, 63% of Oceanview students were proficient in math, and

56% were proficient in English.

Students at Oceanview excelled because teachers structure their

lesson plans around a prescribed state curriculum to teach the

standards, said Karen Colby, the district’s assistant superintendent

for curriculum and instruction.

“All the tools are in place for the instructors to follow the

state standards,” she said.