State School Superintendent Jack O'Connell says so far more students are passing the California High School Exit Exam this school year compared to last.
He says about 91 percent of teenagers passed both the English and math portion of the test since February. That's an increase of about 2 percentage points from last year at this time. The education leader says teachers and students are taking the exam more seriously.
O'Connell : In my opinion its been the intensive instruction and remediation that's showing positive results of students who had been most at risk of failing the exam.
O'Connell also says less than half of the students who failed the exam last year retook the test and passed. Less than half also repeated their senior year or enrolled in an adult education program.
