(August 17, 2004) -- LBReport.com posts links below to test results for California's two major testing programs: the STAR (Standardized Test and Reporting) and CAHSEE (California High School Exit Examination), allowing LB readers to access the data for individual LBUSD schools as well as CA public schools.

In a written release, the CA Dept. of Education said the statewide 2004 STAR results "showed a slowdown in the progress public schools had been making." It called the scores on the California Standards Tests (CSTs) taken by more than 4.7 million students in grades two through eleven "mixed."

In the release, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said, "Results [of the CA Standards Tests] at the high school level continue to cause concern," adding that the "bottom line is that our high schools are not performing at the level they should be."

He added, "This is not where we want to be. This is not where we hoped we would be" and the "scores should be viewed as a wake-up call for us all." At the same time, he said the "trend of student achievement over the last several years remains positive" and urged a focus "as never before on our rigorous academic standards and increasing our investment in ensuring our teachers have the proper training they need to do their jobs."

The CA Standardized Tests (STAR program) rank students in one of five performance levels for each subject tested: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic, and far below basic. The CA Board of Education says "proficient" is its desired achievement goal.

All students in grades two through eleven in CA public schools must participate in the STAR Program. Students with significant cognitive disabilities take the CA Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) rather than the CSTs and the CAT/6. In addition to taking the CSTs and CAT/6 Survey tests in English, students whose primary language is Spanish and who enrolled in a CA public school 12 months or less before testing must take the Spanish Assessment of Basic Education, Second Edition (SABE/2) in Spanish.

[Note: Some LB schools are on a year-round schedule, and thus some results may not be included in the CA Dept. of Education's web posting.]

To view the CA Standards Test Results, click on the link below. To view LBUSD results, choose "Los Angeles County," "Long Beach Unified School District" and the name of the desired school, then click the blue box (above the other three boxes) that says "View Report" On a modem connection, the page takes a few moments to update after making each selection.

The CA Dept. of Education called the CA High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) results "much more encouraging."

In the late 1990s, state lawmakers passed a law requiring CA high school students to pass an exit exam to receive a diploma. However, the law let state education officials delay its implementation...which they did...and now passing the high school exit exam isn't required to receive a CA high school diploma until 2006. Legislation has also been proposed in Sacramento to loosen the high school exit exam requirements as presently written.

The CA Dept. of Education cautions that the 2004 CAHSEE (high school exit exam) results can't be compared to previous results "due to changes in test content and format that had been recommended as part of the program's refinement process. Results of the CAHSEE also should not be compared with STAR Program results due to differences in content between the tests."