SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today issued the following statement regarding the latest results of the Early Assessment Program (EAP) that were released today by California State University:

"I am glad to see that more students took this important college-readiness assessment test in 2006 than ever before," O'Connell said. "The demanding global economy that today's high school student will soon face requires higher levels of skill and knowledge. A higher education will help many of our young people prepare for success in this competitive atmosphere. The fact that so many students are thinking about going to college is very encouraging. The Early Assessment Program provides high school students a head start in preparing for success in college. It also is a great example of a step we have taken to smooth the transition between the K-12 system and our college system.

"The EAP results tell students who want to attend college but need to brush up on basic skills where they must focus during their senior year. I encourage high school principals to use these test results to guide students and help them use their senior year productively. Ultimately, the success of this program will hinge on the extent to which students' senior year is used more effectively so that greater numbers of students are ready for college after high school."

The Early Assessment Program is the result of an extraordinary collaborative effort between the California State University (CSU), the California Department of Education, and the California Board of Education. Through this program, CSU's placement standards are incorporated into existing high school standards tests in English and mathematics taken by high school juniors who chose to participate.

Students who score high enough on the EAP test receive a conditional exemption from the CSU math placement test.

For more information about the EAP program and test results, please see: http://www.calstate.edu/eap/ (Outside Source).