California Students Make Progress On High School Exit Exams

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California education officials are reporting a slight increase in the percentage of high school students passing the exit exam required to earn a diploma.

The state Department of Education said Wednesday that 94.6 percent of the Class of 2011 passed the English and math portions of the California High School Exit Examination. About 422,000 students took the tests during their sophomore, junior or senior years.

The pass rate was 94.4 percent last year and 93.4 percent in 2009.

For the Class of 2011, the pass rate was 90.9 percent for African Americans, 92.3 percent for Hispanics, 97.7 percent for Asians and 98.4 percent for whites.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson says he was heartened that students continued to make academic progress despite state budgets cuts to K-12 schools.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)