The Golden State Exams (GSEs) were a family of exams that were administered to qualifying high achieving students in California during the mid 1980s through the early 2000s. The GSEs were designed based on California's curriculum framework. They were authorized in 1983 by Senate Bill 813.
The first exams began being offered in 1987.
Those who performed well on the exams earned one of the following awards: Recognition, Honors, or High Honors. Collectively, these awards were formally known as the Academic Excellence Awards.
The exams were known for their rigorous nature.
Each exam could only be taken once.
The following is a timeline of when the various Golden State Exams began being offered:
* 1987 -
Algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary a ...
GSE and
Geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
GSE
* 1990 -
Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
GSE and U.S.
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
GSE
* 1991 -
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
GSE and
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
GSE
* 1996 - Written
Composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
GSE
* 1997 -
Government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
/
Civics
Civics is the study of the rights and obligations of citizens in society. The term derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". The term relates to behavior affecting other citizens, particularly in the context of u ...
GSE
* 1999 - Second Year
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
GSE and
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
GSE
There was one year (1995) when the only state testing administered in California was that to the high achieving individuals that qualified for the Golden State Exams. In 1998, high school comprehensive exams in "High School Reading/Literature" and "High School Math" became available to all students and school districts under the GSE banner.
These two comprehensive exams were later integrated and absorbed into the California Standards Tests (CSTs).
In 2003, the GSE subject tests were discontinued due to budget cuts.
Academic Excellence Awards
Students who received a Recognition, Honors, or High Honors Academic Excellence Award received a certificate award and a notation on their transcript specifying the level of achievement. Those who received Honors or High Honors were additionally given gold seals on their diploma specifying the level of achievement.
Results for the 1993 Chemistry Golden State Exam provide an example of the scoring distribution. Of the total population of California high school students in 1993, including 1,424,094 public high school students, only 30,429 qualified for and took the 1993 Chemistry Golden State Exam.
Of those 30,429 students, 1,167 (4%) earned High Honors, 1,950 (6%) earned Honors, and 6,922 (23%) earned Recognition.
References
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Examinations
Education in California