to controversy denying the graduation of students who failed, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that suspended the exam and is no longer required for a diploma for students graduating twelfth grade until July 31, 2018. Composition The CAHSEE was divided into two main sections: English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics. The English section included about 80 multiple-choice questions and requires students to write one or two multi-paragraph essays. The essay portion provided a question that prompts the student to write a persuasive essay, a business letter, a biography, a reaction to literature, or an analysis on the subject of the question. For example, in 2002, one group of students was asked to write an essay that persuaded people not to leave trash on the school grounds. Essay questions change with each test date. The essay portion was scaled out of one to four (with zeros given in special cases, such as for off-topic or non-English responses). The mathematics section consisted of about 90 multiple choice questions. The English section tested students at a 10th-grade level, and requires a score of 60% to pass; the mathematics section tested students at an 8th-grade level, and requires a score of 55% to pass. Results The number of students passing the test on their first attempt had risen slightly each year since 2004. More than three-quarters of students passed the test more than two years before they finish high school, and more than nine out of ten students passed the test by the end of high school. The passing rate of Asian and white students was higher than that of Hispanic and African-American students. Students learning English had the lowest passing rate, with one out of every four failing the exam in 2006. Passing the test was first required for the Class of 2006. As of June 2007, 91% of the 404,000 students in this class had passed the test before graduation, 1% failed the exam in 2006 but passed it in 2007, and 4% were still in school, either as fifth-year seniors or having transferred to a community college. As of February 2007, 91% of students in the Class of 2007 had passed both sections of the exit exam, an increase from the class of 2006. Special education High school students with documented disabilities are allowed reasonable accommodations to keep those disabilities from being an unfair impediment toward proving academic competence. Tests