To prepare for the state’s new high school exit exams that will be mandatory when they graduate, 172 out of 175 freshmen at Malibu High School volunteered to take an exit exam last spring.
The results at Malibu High were moderate, but still well above the state percentages, which averaged a 34 percent passing rate.
Under a 1999 state law, students, beginning with the class of 2004, must pass the exit exam to receive a high school diploma in addition to individual school district graduation requirements.
Students who pass the test do not have to take it again. Those who fail will have the opportunity to retake whatever part of the test they did not pass.
“I am quite happy with the results of the test,” said Malibu High School Principal Mike Matthews.
The test is based on 10th grade California standards. “It’s a test to see where the students are,” said Tony Dahl, director of standards and assessment for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
Thus far, 90 percent of Malibu High’s 9th graders passed the English exam and 70 percent passed the math exam.
“These are extremely high scores,” said Matthews.
The reason the math is lower than the English is simply that many of the 9th graders have not yet taken a full year of algebra, explained the principal.
“We will not move to take any serious intervention work until students have taken the exam in the 10th grade,” said Matthews.
Malibu High will provide extra classes and one-on-one tutoring for students who still have not passed after the 10th grade,” he said.
Overall, Dahl said the results will help the district align its curriculum with the California standards.
“We can look at the sections we did not do too well on and adjust our curriculum,” he said.
The results will be discussed at the next school board meeting on October 18.