California High School Exit Examination - English-Language Arts Released Test Questions - October 2008

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Aurora

California High School Exit Examination English-language arts released test questions from the California Department of Education (October 2008) include released items spanning multiple strands: Word Analysis, Reading Comprehension, Literary Response and Analysis, Writing Strategies, Writing Conventions, and Writing Applications. The document explains that CAHSEE requirements must be met for a high school diploma, describes how questions are evaluated for fairness and alignment to California academic content standards, and provides a strand-by-strand organization with answer and standards references. It also includes copyright and reproduction permission notes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages233

Reading Time9 h 47 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

CAHSEE requirements and test structure

Released question selection criteria

Strand Overview

Word Analysis (RW)

Reading Comprehension (RC)

Literary Response and Analysis (RL)

Writing Strategies (WS)

Writing Conventions (WC)

Writing Applications (WA)

Reading Section Organization

Strand descriptions and follow-on passages

California High School Exit Examination English-Language Arts Released Test Questions California Department of Education October 2008 © 2008 California Department of Education (CDE) Permission is granted in advance for reproduction of these resources for educational purposes. The content must remain unchanged and in its entirety as published by the California Department of Education. To obtain permission to reproduce the information (text or graphics) contained in this document or any other CDE materials for any commercial purpose, submit the specifics of your request in writing to the Copyright Program Office, California Department of Education, CDE Press, 1430 N Street, Suite 3207, Sacramento, CA 95814. Fax: 916-324-9787. Please note that any privately copyrighted reading passages contained in any CDE materials or on CDE’s Web site may not be put into publications for sale or otherwise. To obtain permission and terms of use for privately copyrighted material, contact the copyright holder. This printing (2008) of the English-Language Arts Released Test Questions contains the following privately copyrighted passages: A Day Away (From WOULDN’T TAKE NOTHING FOR MY JOURNEY NOW by Maya Angelou, copyright © 1993 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.) Reprinted from “White Fang” by Jack London. (Troll Communications) . Kaplan, J. 1997. Acting up across the curriculum: Using creative dramatics to explore adolescent literature. The ALAN Review 24(3): 42–46. “The Courage That My Mother Had” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, from Collected Poems, Harper Collins. Copyright © 1954, 1982 by Norma Millay Ellis. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Elizabeth Barnett, literary executor. Housepainting Copyright © 1994 by Lan Samantha Chang. Reprinted by permission of the author. Early Spring (From NAVAJO VOICES AND VISIONS ACROSS THE MESA by Shonto Begay. Copyright © 1995 by Shonto Begay. Reprinted by permission of Scholastic Inc.) Slow Death of a Cave (From Discover, November 2001. Copyright © 2001, Leslie Vreeland. Used by permission of the author.) “A Brain Divided” from Psychology: Its Principles and Application, Eighth Edition, by T.L. Engle and Louis Snellgrove, copyright © 1984 by Harcourt, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. Dances With Dolphins (From the book Dolphins by Tim Cahill. Copyright © 2000 by MacGillivray Freeman Films. Text Copyright © 2000 by Tim Cahill. Reprinted by arrangement with the National Geographic Society.) English-Language Arts Released Test Questions Introduction All California public school students must satisfy the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) requirement, as well as all other state and local requirements, in order to receive a high school diploma. The CAHSEE is divided into two parts: English-language arts and mathematics. All questions on the CAHSEE are evaluated by committees of content experts, including California educators, teachers, and administrators, to ensure the questions’ appropriateness for measuring the designated California academic content standards in English-language arts and mathematics. In addition to content, all items are reviewed and approved to ensure their adherence to the principles of fairness and to ensure no bias exists with respect to characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and language. This document combines released test questions that have appeared on the English-language arts part of the CAHSEE since the 2000–2001 school year and contains new test questions from the 2007–2008 school year. A similar document for mathematics is also available. The questions are grouped by strand (e.g., Word Analysis). At the beginning of each strand section is a list of the specific standards assessed on the CAHSEE. Following a group of questions is a table that gives the correct answer for each question, the content standard each question is measuring, and the year each question originally app

FAQs

What is the purpose of the CAHSEE English-language arts released test questions document?

It provides released CAHSEE English-language arts test questions organized by strands, along with information about assessed standards and the year each question originally appeared.

How are CAHSEE questions evaluated for fairness and standards alignment?

Content experts, including California educators and administrators, review questions to ensure appropriateness for measuring designated standards and to ensure fairness with no bias related to characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, or language.

How are the released test questions grouped inside the document?

Questions are grouped by strand. Each strand section begins with a list of the specific standards assessed, and a table after a group of questions provides the correct answer, the measured content standard, and the original CAHSEE year.

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Aurora

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