The test was originally intended to be required of students graduating in 2004, but full implementation was delayed until the class of 2006.
In October 2001, Assembly Bill 1609 removed the option for ninth graders to take the CAHSEE beginning with the 2002 administration.
[1] Due to controversy denying the graduation of students who failed, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that suspended the exam and is no longer required for a diploma for students graduating twelfth grade until July 31, 2015.
[1] The English section included about 80 multiple-choice questions and requires students to write one or two multi-paragraph essays.
For example, in 2002, one group of students was asked to write an essay that persuaded people not to leave trash on the school grounds.
Beginning with the Class of 2010, eligible disabled students may graduate without passing the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE).
This was intended to shorten the test for students whose chances of success on the CAHSEE were determined to be extremely low.
The test has highlighted educational disparities by race, disability, income, and whether English is spoken in the home.
[16] In May 2006, an Alameda County Superior Court judge struck down the CAHSEE, ruling that students from disadvantaged schools, the majority of them with low income or recent immigrants, had not been appropriately prepared for the test.
The California Department of Education appealed the ruling directly to the state Supreme Court,[17] which reinstated the exam and upheld the CAHSEE.
Alternative assessments, such as evaluating students based on a portfolio of class work, have been proposed and rejected.
They are also much more expensive to grade, and concerns have been raised about cheating, since a student could present work created in a completely unsupervised setting.