Back to Year 2006 - Letters
March 7, 2006
Dear District Superintendents and Testing Coordinators:
Recently, a great deal of media attention has been focused on the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) and the approaching requirement for students in the class of 2006 to satisfy the CAHSEE as a condition of graduation, the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 517, and the recent legal challenges to the CAHSEE.
For those students in the class of 2006 and beyond, the CAHSEE remains a graduation requirement. The only exceptions to this requirement are the existing local waiver process and the exemption option. The local waiver process is set forth in California Education Code Section 60851(c) and is available to certain students with disabilities who take the CAHSEE with a modification and receive the equivalent to a passing score. Likewise, the exemption option as set forth in SB 517 (California Education Code Section 60852.3) is also a local determination available to certain students with disabilities. The exemption option is only available for the class of 2006. On February 3, 2006, I sent a letter and information sheet to you regarding this one-year exemption.
The filing of a legal challenge to the CAHSEE in no way affects the fact that passing the CAHSEE is a graduation requirement. School districts must continue to offer the CAHSEE to all eligible students, and must continue to provide remediation to students who have yet to pass one or both parts of the examination. A compendium of CAHSEE remediation models and programs that have been found to be effective by school districts and other education institutions throughout the state is available on the CDE Web site at CAHSEE Remediation Compendium.
Please share this letter with appropriate district and school staff members. If you have any questions about this topic, please contact the California Department of Education’s CAHSEE Office, at 916-445-9449.
Thank you for your continuing support of the CAHSEE Program.
Sincerely,
Deb Sigman, Director
Standards and Assessment Division
DS:jv
1430 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814