California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) is a standardized test initiated by California department of education for facilitating high school educational credentials to school dropouts. The candidates receive Certificate of Proficiency on passing the test, which is considered equivalent to high school diploma by institutions, which comes under the jurisdiction of the state. The educational institutions, which come under the federal law, may consider certificate of proficiency or may not, depending upon their policy. In such case, the candidate can be asked to pass the SAT.
Eligibility-
CHSPE is for the candidates, who have dropped out from the school or are planning for so due to one or the other reason. The candidate must have enrolled in tenth grade for a year and should be 16 years of age.
Test Overview-
The test consists of two parts- English language arts and mathematics. The English section is divided into two subsections- language skills and reading. The questions in language subsection are based on grammar, punctuation, capitalization, language usage, sentence structure, and writing skills. The reading subsection examines reading comprehension and vocabulary. The mathematics section is derived from topics like number sense and operations, pattern, relationships and algebra, data, statistics and probability, geometry, and measurements.
Test Format-
There are 48 and 84 multiple choice questions in the language and reading subsections of the English language arts respectively. The language subsection has 8 questions on capitalization, 8 on usage, 8 on punctuations, 10 on sentence structure, 5 on prewriting and 9 on content and organization plus one writing assignment. The reading subsection has 10 questions of initial understanding, 20 of interpretation, 14 of critical analysis, 10 of strategies, 10 of synonyms, 20 of multiple meaning words, and 14 of context clues, summing up to a total of 84 MCQs. In mathematics section, there are 9 MCQs pertaining to number sense and operation, 15 to patterns, relationships and algebra, 12 to data, statistics and probability, and 14 to geometry and measurement, summing up to a total of 50 multiple choice questions. The time allotted for the entire exam is three and half hours. No individual section is timed, so the examinee is free to manage the given time according to himself/herself.
Marking Scheme-
The English language subsections (language and reading) and mathematics section are awarded scaled scores in range from 250 to 450 each. The writing assignment is checked by two human scorers. The scores awarded are averaged in range from1 to 5 points to derive the final score. The passing score for English language arts reading subsection and mathematics section is 350. The passing score for language subsection is a combination of score awarded to multiple choice portion and writing assignment like 342 score in multiple choice portion and 3.5 points in writing assignment, 350 score in multiple choice portion and 3 points in writing assignment, or 365 score in multiple choice portion and 2.5 points in writing assignment.
Schedule-
The test is administered on fixed dates in a year. The registration can be done in regular, late and emergency periods. It can be done through internet on the official website of CHSPE- www.chspe.net/ or through U.S mail.
Exam Fees-
The examination fee in regular periods is $110. There are extra charges for registration in late and emergency periods. The fees for late and emergency registration are $135 and $160 respectively.