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Schools

More on Those Stellar STAR Scores

The school district sent out this press release with details about standardized test results published this week.

The California Department of Education that show students in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District continue to excel academically in all subjects and grades.

Results from the California Standards Test also show that the district continues to make gains in the percentage of students scoring at the “proficient and advanced” levels.  

About 22,600 students in grades 2 to 11 took the exam, with 85 percent scoring proficient or above in English-language arts and 87 percent scoring proficient or above in mathematics. Despite an increase of more than 930 students taking the exam in 2011, an equal or higher percentage of students scored proficient or advanced in eight of 10 grade levels in English-language arts, and four of six grade levels in elementary/middle school general math (grades 2-7).

“To see consistent testing gains in a high performing district like ours is very gratifying,” said Superintendent Steven Enoch. “These results reflect an extremely dedicated group of teachers, supportive parents and hard-working students - all focused on core academic achievement for every student.”

The largest percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced was at fourth grade, where 92 percent of students scored proficient or advanced in English-Language Arts (a six-point increase), while 90 percent of third graders scored proficient or advanced in mathematics (a two-point gain).

In the Life Science portion of the CST (tested in grades 5, 8 and 10), scores increased by a combined 9 percentage points in the three grade levels.

Under the STAR program, California students attain one of five levels of performance for each subject tested: Advanced, proficient, basic, below basic, and far below basic.

The State Board of Education has established the “proficient” level as the desired achievement goal for all students. That level represents a solid performance in which students demonstrate a competent and adequate understanding of the knowledge and skills measured by the assessment at a particular grade, in a particular content area. This achievement goal is consistent with school growth targets for state accountability and requirements of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The state target is for all students to score at the proficient or advanced level.

Approximately 4.7 million California students participated in the 2011 STAR program, which consists of the following exams:

  • California Standards Tests (CSTs), standards-based tests that measure the achievement of state content standards for English–language arts, mathematics, science, and history–social science.
  • California Modified Assessment (CMA), designed for students with disabilities whose individualized education program team determines that the CMA is appropriate and who meet State Board of Education-adopted eligibility criteria. The CMA is designed to provide students an accessible assessment of their achievement of the California content standards for English–language arts, mathematics, and science.
  • California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), for students who have significant cognitive disabilities and assesses them in the content areas of English–language arts, mathematics, and science.
  • Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS), for Spanish-speaking, English learner students who either receive instruction in Spanish or have been enrolled in a school in the United States for less than 12 months. The STS assesses these students in reading/language arts and mathematics. Students who complete the STS also complete the CST and/or CMA for their grade level.

The results of these exams, with the exception of the STS, are included in state and federal accountability reports. Students who complete the STS also complete the CST and/or CMA for their grade level.

Results are posted on the California Department of Education website at http://star.cde.ca.gov. Individual student reports have already been mailed out.

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