More than 90 percent of the Hart district’s tenth-graders passed the California High School Exit Exam on their first try, according to state figures released Tuesday.

“What it tells us is that we’re doing a pretty good job in what we’re teaching and how we’re teaching it,” said David LeBarron, director of curriculum and assessment for the William S. Hart Union High School District.

Among the 10th-graders — now 11th-graders — who took the exit exam in March, 91 percent passed, California Department of Education numbers show.

“We are pleased with the results,” LeBarron said. “Our pass rate is quite a bit higher than both the state and the county.”

The overall pass rate in Los Angeles County is 78 percent while the statewide rate is a slightly more than 80 percent.

The district also outperformed districts like the Antelope Valley Union High School District, which has a 73-percent pass rate for math and 77-percent pass rate for English language arts, according to the state figures.

Most of the Hart district high schools scored a pass rate in the 90-percent range.

Every single 10th-grader at the Academy of the Canyons passed the English language arts and math portions of the test on the first attempt, according to the state data.

Golden Valley High School placed the lowest out of the Hart district schools, achieving an 82-percent pass rate.

For LeBarron, that means the district has to take a look at how teachers can address specific groups of students that might be struggling on the test.

The graduating class of 2010 was the fifth required to pass the California High School Exit Exam and results from the tests factor into the Academic Performance Index, which the state is expected to release in September.

This year’s results are a slight increase from the previous year, when 90 percent of 10th-graders in the Hart district passed the exam in March 2009.

The test, which covers math and English language arts, is a requirement for high school graduation and every 10th-grader in California takes the exit exam for the first time in March. Students who do not pass the first time can retake the test through their senior year.

Less than 1 percent of Hart district seniors fail to receive diplomas because they did not pass one or more sections of the test, according to the Hart district.