STAR Test Results for San Juan Unified School District Schools Revealed

Results of STAR tests from schools across California were released Friday morning by the California Department of Education (CA DOE).

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson sent out a glowing statement, touting how statewide scores in math and English-language arts have risen for the ninth year in a row.

“In less than a decade, California has gone from having only one student in three score proficient, to better than one student in two,” Torlakson said. “That’s nearly 900,000 more students reaching proficiency now than in 2003 - a remarkable achievement that represents real, sustained improvements in learning.”

Torlakson said the achievement is even more noteworthy considering how badly California schools are struggling financially these days.

“Even more remarkable is the fact that our students continue to make gains even as our schools and the teachers, administrators and school employees working in them are getting by with so much less,” Torlakson said. “As pleased as I am by the great progress many students are making, the deep school budget cuts of recent years make it ever less likely these gains will continue.”

“Preventing further cuts and beginning to restore what’s been lost are essential to helping every student learn and prepare for the future.”

Results for 2012 rose 3 percentage points over last year in English-language arts, and 1 percentage point in mathematics. Since 2003, the scores have risen 22 points in English-language arts - or from 35 to 57 percent scoring “proficient” or “advanced" - and 16 percentage points in math, or from 35 to 51 percent.

However, Torlakson said, while the STAR results show an increase in proficiency levels among all subgroups, a “persistent achievement gap” exists for African American, Latino, English-learner, and low-income students, compared to their peers.

“Like every teacher, parent, and principal, despite the decade of progress we’ve seen, I won’t be completely satisfied until every child has the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential,” Torlakson said.

Patch was sent information about the results, so we’re bringing it to you. Below are countywide results, as well as local results for the San Juan Unified School District.

But first, a little background.

“STAR” stands for Standardized Testing and Reporting.

The STAR tests consists of the following four components:

• “CST,” or California Standards Test
• “CMA,” or California Modified Assessment
• “CAPA,” or California Alternate Performance Assessment
• “STS,” or Standards-based Tests in Spanish

According to the CA DOE, the CSTs for English–language arts (ELA), mathematics, science, and history–social science are administered only to students in California public schools. Except for a writing component that is administered as part of the fourth-grade and seventh-grade ELA tests, all questions are multiple-choice.

The CA DOE’s website explains, “These tests were developed specifically to assess students' knowledge of the California content standards. The State Board of Education adopted these standards, which specify what all children in California are expected to know and be able to do in each grade or course. “

CST scores are used for calculating each school's Academic Performance Index (API) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores.

Information about the API and AYP is posted on the CA DOE’s Accountability Progress Reporting website at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ar/index.asp.

THE RESULTS:

The San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD) performed better than the county average in all four major areas of study – English-language arts, history, mathematics, and the Science CST. Results of SJUSD’s Science End-of-Course were not available.

English-Language Arts (Grades 2-11):

SJUSD students with scores: 31,586
SJUSD percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 58.6%
Sacramento County students with scores: 166,752
Sacramento County percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 55.9%

World History (Grades 9 through end-of-course):

SJUSD students with scores: 8,108
SJUSD percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 42.1%
Sacramento County students with scores: 34,964
Sacramento County percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 41.3%

Mathematics (Grades 2-7):

SJUSD students with scores: 17,399
SJUSD percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 60.5% 
Sacramento County students with scores: 99,288
Sacramento County percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 60.3%

Science CST (Grades 5, 8, and 10):

SJUSD students with scores: 9,588
SJUSD percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 62.7%
Sacramento County students with scores: 49,350
Sacramento County percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 57.4%

Science End-of-Course:

Sacramento County students with scores: 40,958
Sacramento County percent scoring ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’: 43.8%

PATCH WANTS TO KNOW – What do you think of how the San Juan Unified School District scored? Tell us in the comments below.

Looking for more school news? Check our Back-to-School Guide for 2012.

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