Who Passes CBEST?
The Commission received a 16-page report on the preparation and demographic data of CBEST participants from July 1995 through June 1999 and the first time CBEST passing rates for these 228,738 persons. The data appears mixed. Some interesting items seem to show that the higher one’s college GPA, the better chance of passing. On the other hand little difference is shown in how long ago the college experience happened. White (non-Hispanic) shows the best pass rate 81.2%. They are followed by native-American (70.6%), Asian-American (68.7%), Mexican-American (54.6%) and African American (42.4%). Parents’ level of education seems to make a difference. Test takers whose mother or father has a degree did much better (79.9% pass) than if parents only had a high school diploma or less (64.8% pass). Persons who list their best language as English passed at a 74.7% rate while those who listed Spanish as best language passed at a 25.9% rate. Those who had taken a CBEST preparation course passed at
