Malibu Students Ace Exit Exams

Ninety-eight percent of 10th-grade students at passed the math and English and language arts portion of the California High School Exit Exam during the 2011-2012 school year, according to test results released Wednesday by the California Department of Education.

Out of 156 students who took the math portion, only three did not pass, and out of 176 who took the ELA section, only three did not pass, according to the test results.

Students did better this year than in the 2010-11 school year on the English and language arts portion of the test. Last year, 96 percent of students passed.

"These numbers certainly confirm what we already know—we have a strong school system," said Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education President .

Malibu was well ahead of Los Angeles County schools, where an average of 82 percent of 10th graders passed the math portion of the test—up from 81 percent last year—and 81 percent passed the English portion, the same percentage as last year's class.

Statewide, 84 percent of 10th graders passed the math portion of the test, while 83 percent passed the English portion.

According to the CDE, 95 percent of students in the class of 2012 across the state passed the overall exam, up 0.8 percent from last year.

"When 95 percent of California students are hitting the mark—despite the tremendous challenges we face and the work we still have to do—there's an awful lot going right in our public schools," said Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public instruction. "I congratulate the students who succeeded on this test, the teachers who provided invaluable instruction, and the parents who gave their support and encouragement."

All students in California must take the exit exam during their sophomore year. They have two more opportunities to pass it in the 11th grade and three chances as seniors.

The class of 2006 was the first graduating class in California that was required to meet the exit exam requirement.

Torlakson noted that the achievement gap between Hispanic and white students has narrowed by 12.5 percentage points from the class of 2006 and the class of 2014—this year's 10th graders—on the English portion of the test and 12.9 percentage points on the math section.

The gap between black and white students shrank over that same time period by 7.5 percentage points in English and 10.5 points in math.

-City News Service contributed to this report.