Over Half of LBUSD Students (Grades 3-8 + 11) Don't Meet Or Exceed State Standards On First New "Common Core" Tests; Wide Differences Among LB Schools And Demographic Groups; See Details For All Schools
Results similar to statewide; officials say new tests measure new skills, set a baseline for improvement; see detailed results for all schools here
LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. Support independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.
(Sept. 9, 2015) -- Remember those new tests that LBUSD school students took on computer in spring 2015 that for the first time measure their performance using new "common core" test standards? Today, (Sept. 9) Sacramento's Dept. of Education released the results for schools statewide...and it wasn't pretty statewide or locally.
The CAASPP tests are scored in one of four achievement levels: "standard exceeded," "standard met," "standard nearly met," and
"standard not met." Our figures below indicate those who achieved "standard exceeded " or "standard met"...and not "standard nearly met" or "standard not met."
Statewide in all grades tested (3-8 + 11), 56% of students failed to meet or exceed the English Language Arts/Literacy standard, and 66% overall failed to meet or exceed the Math standard.
Among LBUSD schools, in all grades tested (3-8 + 11) 58% of students failed to meet or exceed the English Language Arts/Literacy standard, and 69% failed to meet or exceed the Math standard BUT in our quick check of LBUSD schools, we saw wide numerical disparities among schools and demographic groups.
To view details for all LBUSD schools (and other districts and schools statewide), use this link.
[Scroll down for further.]
Each school's results are displayed with graphs showing the four achievement levels; use your mouse to hover over the bars on the graph to see the score percentages. There's also a pull down menu allowing one to select to review results by group/subgroup.
LBUSD spokesman Chris Eftychiou says the district hasn't received individual student results from Sac'to yet and isn't sure exactly when they'll arrive, but expects them to arrive in the coming weeks...and when LBUSD receives them, they'll mail them to the students parents/guardians.
[Scroll down for further.]
Advertisement
Advertisement
In a very quick sampling of LBUSD schools we found among LBUSD High Schools:
65% of all Millikan High 11th grade students met or exceeded the English Language Arts/Literacy standard. 31% met or exceeded the Math standard.
62% of all Poly High 11th grade students met or exceeded the English Language Arts/Literacy standard. 35% met or exceeded the Math standard.
56% of all Wilson High 11th grade students met or exceeded the English Language Arts/Literacy standard. 26% met or exceeded the Math standard.
42% of all Lakewood High 11th grade students met or exceeded the English Language Arts/Literacy standard. 26% met or exceeded the Math standard.
43% of all Cabrillo High 11th grade students exceeded or met the English Language Arts/Literacy standard. 11% met or exceeded the standard in math.
26% of all Jordan High 11th grade students met exceeded the English Language Arts/Literacy standard. 8% met or exceeded the Math standard.
Among other quickly selected schools:
Mini Gant Elementary (grades 3+4+5): 71% met or exceeded English Language Arts/Literacy standard, 71% met or exceeded Math standard
Newcomb K-8 (grades 3-8): 68% met or exceeded English Language Arts/Literacy standard, 57% met or exceeded Math standard
Rogers Middle School (grades 6-8): 77% met or exceeded English Language Arts/Literacy standard, 54% met or exceeded Math standard
Washington Middle School (grades 6-8): 19% met or exceeded English Language Arts/Literacy standard, 15% met or exceeded Math standard.
Scroll down for further
Advertisement
Advertisement
The CA Dept. of Education and LBUSD both note that this is the first year for the "California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) tests which differ substantially from their predecessors and their results shouldn't be compared to previous Standardized Tests and Report (STAR) results.
CAASPP includes a number of assessments, including "Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments" which evaluate student progress on the California standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy, often referred to as the "Common Core."
"This year's results will set a new baseline for progress that students will make in the coming years," LBUSD Superintendent
Chris Steinhauser said in a release. "We will use these results and other sources of data as we work to improve student achievement, ultimately preparing more students for success in college and careers."
LBUSD says in a release that CAASPP focuses on "assessing crucial abilities, such as analyzing problems, thinking independently, and writing clearly with evidence. Those skills take time and effort to master but are essential to succeed in today's world."
Advertisement
Advertisement
Sacramento's Dept. of Education issued a release stressing that the scores are for "baseline" purposes and [release text] "reflect, in part, the rigor of the state's new academic standards...CAASPP focuses on assessing crucial abilities, such as analyzing problems, thinking independently, and writing clearly with evidence. Those skills take time and effort to master but are essential to succeed in today's world."
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in the CA Dept. of Education release: "California is in the process of transforming its schools with increased funding, higher academic standards, more local control, and additional support for students and schools with the greatest needs -- and this will take time...This is our first academic check-up on how that work is going, and so I ask parents and educators to take that into account, use this information wisely to help their students, and understand this is a baseline that we will build upon."
[CDE release text] One concern, Torlakson said, is the results indicate the state has a persistent achievement gap "significant differences in scores" among students from low-income families, English learners and some ethnic groups when compared to other students. Overall, 31 percent of students in all grades from low-income families met or exceeded standard in English language arts/literacy and 21 percent met or exceeded standard in math, compared with 64 percent and 53 percent for the subjects, respectively, among other students...
Overall, 11 percent of English learners in all grades met or exceeded standard in English language arts/literacy and 11 percent in math, compared with 69 percent and 55 percent for those subjects, respectively, for students proficient in English.
As for scores among all grades for ethnic groups, 72 percent of Asians met or exceeded standard in English language arts/literacy and 69 percent in math, while 28 percent of African Americans met or exceeded standard in English language arts/literacy and 16 percent in math. Other ethnic groups fell between the two...
"Clearly, we must continue working to eliminate these gaps," Torlakson said. "Much work needs to be done, but we are moving in the right direction with our efforts to provide extra resources and services for students and schools with the greatest needs."
The results also show that teachers, schools, and districts need more time, training and resources to improve student outcomes overall and to meet the high standards California has set, Torlakson said.
Toward that end, CDE helped develop a digital library for districts that contains information to help teachers improve their teaching and to collaborate with each other. In addition, teachers can use interim tests to help them get immediate information about their students' performance so they can adjust teaching during the year...
The CDE also released results of the California Standards Test for science, which is administered to students in grades five, eight, and ten. These tests are not aligned with California's recently adopted Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Assessments based on these standards are currently being developed. Overall, the percentage of students proficient and above dropped from 61 percent in 2014 to 57 percent in 2015...
