Sophomores bear down during vacation week

Winter vacation has stretched into week two for most students in the Sacramento City Unified School District.

But 10th-graders at Sacramento New Technology High School - a small charter school near Executive Airport - weren't sleeping in, hanging out at the mall or spending hours playing video games.

They were at school this week, preparing for the California High School Exit Exam.

All the state's sophomores will take the test for the first time this semester. If they pass, they have a clear path to graduation in two years. If they fail, they must retake the test throughout 11th and 12th grades. Those who don't pass by the end of high school aren't allowed to graduate.

"You can either put the work in on the front end and cruise," Principal Paula Hanzel said she tells her students. "Or you can fly by the seat of your pants and experience the stress over the next year or two over whether you're going to graduate."

Sophomores seem to have heeded the message. Almost all of the school's 90 10th-graders are attending the preparation course, which runs for three days this week and three days next week.

"I don't like taking time away from break. But then, I'm preparing for a major test, so it's a little bit of both (good and bad)," said Jordan Kinyon, 15, as he lunched on taquitos in the school cafeteria.

Brushing up on English and math skills and learning test-taking strategies weren't Arielle Brown's idea of vacation. She said she'd rather be sleeping late and going to the mall.

"We already learned this stuff," said Brown, 15. "So it's basically just review."

But that's exactly what students need to be doing in the weeks leading up to the two-day test next month, said Robert Richardson, the teacher who organized the course.

"The hope is they'll get a good refresher here and then there's not much turnaround before they take the test," he said. "It's much better to be proactive and get them at this stage."

High schools are required to offer exit exam courses for juniors and seniors who have failed the test.

Typically they are held after school or on Saturdays. But preparation classes for 10th-graders who have not yet taken the exam are more unusual, said Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.

Even so, New Tech is not the only Sacramento-area school to offer the preparation to sophomores.

America's Choice High School - also a small charter school created as part of Sacramento City Unified's high school reform effort - has asked 10th-graders to attend an exit exam course for two weeks at the end of January.

And Sacramento Charter High School offered an exit exam class during winter vacation last year. This year, the school is urging sophomores to attend after-school tutoring and three Saturday preparation sessions in the weeks leading to the Feb. 7-8 test.

The exit exam tests students on ninth-and 10th-grade reading and writing skills as well as sixth-, seventh-and eighth-grade level math.

Students get a total of six chances to pass.

The stakes also are high for schools.

For students, it doesn't matter if they pass on the first try or the last. As long as they pass the exam and meet all other graduation requirements, they will earn a diploma.

But for schools, only the exit exam scores that students earn as sophomores count toward federal accountability measurements. A school whose sophomores do poorly on the exit exam is at risk of sanctions under No Child Left Behind - regardless of how well those students perform the second, third or fourth times they take the test.

Dejon Hollyfield, 15, is hoping he won't have to take the test more than once. He said he's happy to be taking the preparation class this week.

"It helps me," Hollyfield said. "I've been learning more math stuff, and that's not one of my good points."

But he remains a little worried about the exam.

"It's going to be hard, and I'm nervous because it determines if I graduate or not."

For sophomore Ben Schmidt, 15, the class is a fun diversion - just as vacation was starting to lose its appeal.

"It gives me something to do," he said. "Other than play video games all day."

About the writer:

• The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall can be reached at (916) 321-1083 or lrosenhall@sacbee.com.