Senate Bill 172 – Suspension of the High School Exit Exam
Senator Carol Liu
Introduced February 5, 2015

BACKGROUND
Passing the California High School Exit
Examination (CAHSEE) was added as a
requirement for high school graduation
beginning with the Class of 2006. Students
must also satisfactorily complete state- and
locally-required coursework as a condition of
graduation.
The State Board of Education adopted the
California Common Core Standards in
mathematics and English language arts in 2010.
The CAHSEE has not been updated for
alignment to the Common Core Standards, and
is therefore outdated as the exam is aligned to
standards that are no longer in place.
The CAHSEE has served a valuable purpose by
ensuring students demonstrate competency on
standards, providing remediation opportunities
prior to grade 12, and helping to overall narrow
the achievement gap between subgroups
according to the independent evaluations
conducted by the Human Resources Research
Organization.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/documents/cahse
e13evalrpt.pdf
California has revamped the State’s assessment
system by transitioning to assessments that are
aligned to the California Common Core
Standards and eliminating outdated assessments.
Current law requires the Superintendent of
Public Instruction to provide recommendations
on expanding the assessment system to include
additional assessments in various subject matter
areas. These recommendations are due by
March 1, 2016.

would no longer be required to pass the
CAHSEE as a condition of graduation.
Recommendations on the future of the CAHSEE
or alternatives will be developed during the
period of suspension.
SOLUTION
This bill:
 Suspends the administration of the CAHSEE
for three school years (2016-17, 2017-18,
2018-19).
 Specifies that successful passage of the
CAHSEE is not a condition of graduation
from high school for those three school
years.
 Requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to convene an advisory panel to
recommend whether an exit exam should be
continued and what alternative pathways
could demonstrate competency of the
standards.
 Requires the recommendations of this panel
to be included in the currently-required
report regarding expansion of the state’s
assessment system.
SUPPORT
None on file
OPPOSITION
None on file

SB 172 suspends the CAHSEE for three school
years. During the time of suspension, students
SB 172 (Liu) Suspension of High School Exit Exam
Staff Contact: Lynn Lorber, lynn.lorber@sen.ca.gov, (916) 651-4105