(August 16, 2007) -- LBReport.com posts a link below to the 2007 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) results for every LB Unified School District (LBUSD) school as well as all CA public schools statewide.

Students in grades 2-11 are tested...and the publicly released STAR results show percentages of students at each school in one of five categories: "advanced proficient," "proficient," "basic," "below basic" and "far below basic."

The State Board of Education considers "proficient" the desired achievement goal for all students (calling it consistent with growth targets under the federal No Child Left Behind Act) and sets a target of all CA students scoring at the proficient or advanced level.

In the most recent statewide results, fewer than half of all CA students tested scored proficient or advanced proficient in English language arts (43%) or math (41%)...but the percentages have improved since 2003, a result CA's Dept. of Education called "encouraging."

To view the results for LB schools, just click the link, click the pull-down tabs for the blanks ("Los Angeles" for County, "Long Beach" for district and the school's name, THEN click "View Report" box) and you'll see everything.

In a release, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell addressed a troubling statistic: while all student subgroup populations continued to improve since 2003, an achievement gap between African Americans or blacks and whites and between Hispanics or Latinos and whites remained relatively unchanged.

"Once again, these annual test scores shine a glaring light on the disparity in achievement between students who are African American or Hispanic and their white or Asian counterparts. We know all children can learn to the same high levels, so we must confront and change those things that are holding back groups of students."

Those results cannot always be explained on the basis of poverty that has so often been associated with low performance, O'Connell said.

"The results show this explanation not to be universally true...In fact, African American and Hispanic students who are not poor are achieving at lower levels in math than their white counterparts who are poor. These are not just economic achievement gaps, they are racial achievement gaps. We cannot afford to excuse them; they simply must be addressed. We must take notice and take action."

The CA Standards Tests (CSTs) are standards-based and measure achievement of state content standards in English-language arts, mathematics, science, and history-social science. CA Achievement Tests (CAT/6) are nationally norm-referenced and administered in grades 3 and 7 only.

A CA Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) is available for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

A Spanish-language nationally norm-referenced test of general academic knowledge is available for Spanish-speaking English learners (grades 5-11 in 2007). Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS) are designed for Spanish-speaking English learners to measure achievement of state content standards in reading-language arts and mathematics in Spanish for grades 2, 3, and 4 in 2007.