Verdugo Hills High School WASC Self-Study Page 1

Verdugo Hills High School WASC/CDE Self-Study Reportsignificance and importance of the test. Individual classroom teachers reviewtest questions throughout the terms, and the Instructional Cabinet hasestablished a CAHSEE class for ninth and tenth graders three weeks beforethe actual test that met twice a week. Furthermore, the school is currentlygearing up to offer a CST class that will meet once a week. VHHS also offersSaturday prep classes for the CAHSEE and also have a fallback day. Fallbackday is a chance for students to meet with their term A and B teachers toreview for the test as these may be core subjects that they haven’t hadsince January.The English Department is currently revamping several assessments thatmirror the CAHSEE and CST tests that will be given as final exams to ourninth and tenth graders. These tests are focused on the department’s coreliterature lists and also have students write an essay on demand, much likethey have to do when they take the CAHSEE. The English Department alsospends a great amount of their meeting time discussing and sharing bestpractices that focus on the following topics: test-taking strategies,motivating the students to improve their writing skills, how to introducegrammar into the curriculum, and how to make English students lifelongreaders. Teachers use a variety of strategies to motivate their students tobecome engaged in reading including reading aloud to the students, popcornreading, acting out the plays, using CDs of Shakespearean plays, making aniMovie to provide the students needed background information, and showingthe films based on the core literature. Encouraging English students tobecome lifelong readers is essential for research shows that the morestudents read, the better their ability to comprehend and thus, the Englishdepartment believes their students will be better prepared for all of theexams. English teachers also employ a variety of strategies to engagestudents in the process of reading and to teach them how to predict,summarize, question, and analyze the literature. English teachers use avariety of strategies to do this including one teacher who has an author dayfair where students create posters of their silent sustained author andintroduce it to the class. Other teachers utilize artistic projects, skits, journalwriting, essays, and speeches.Social science teachers assess their students in other challenging waysbesides just using the standard written exams. Social science teachers havetheir government students prepare and act out complex debates on variousVerdugo Hills High School WASC Self-Study Page 125