| For immediate release August 15, 2011 |
Contact:
Larry Slonaker, SCCOE Phone: (408) 453-6662 |
Standards Tests Results: Progress in Closing the Gap
Note: the reference to the statewide score in math has been revised from 50 percent to 62 percent, reflecting COE methodology that differs from the CDE‘s
SAN JOSE, CA – Results of the 2011 California Standards Tests show that progress is being made among county students in closing the achievement gap, according to an analysis by the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Assessment and Accountability Department.
The California Department of Education released the 2011 California Standards Tests on Monday for schools, districts and counties. The scores are used to calculate Academic Performance Index and are compared to Adequate Yearly Progress accountability targets. (AYP and API reports are scheduled for public release on August 31.)
Several highlights of the COE analysis:
County students continued to show steady improvement over time, and also continue to outperform statewide peers.
- In English-Language Arts, 65 percent scored at the level of proficient or above in English-Language Arts. The statewide figure was 54 percent. County students’ performance was up from 63 percent a year ago.
- In math, 71 percent scored at proficient or above. The statewide figure was 62 percent. County students’ math performance was up from 69 percent a year ago.
The Hispanic subgroup in the county demonstrated academic growth on all four academic areas assessed by the CST between 2010 and 2011:
- a three percentage point gain on the English-Language Arts Grades 2-11 assessment;
- a three percentage point gain on the Mathematics Grades 2-7 assessment;
- a four percentage point gain on the Grade 5 Science CST ; and, a four percentage point gain on the History-Social Science Grade 8 assessment.
Not only did county Hispanic students demonstrate growth in academic areas, they also reduced the achievement gap with the white student subgroup (who also demonstrated academic growth) in ELA and Math between 2004 and 2011:
- the gap on the ELA assessment was reduced from 43 percentage points to 38; and,
- the gap on the Math Grades 2-7 assessment dropped from 39 percentage points to 30.
Another encouraging note in the analysis is the number of students taking tests in subjects that are essential to higher education. Between 2007 and 2011, there has been a widespread increase in student participation on the Algebra I CST: both overall, and among the Hispanic and African American 7th and 8th grade students.
During the same time interval, even with the greater number of students taking the test, the percentage of students performing at the proficient or above levels demonstrated modest growth.
“These very encouraging results show that our efforts to eliminate the achievement gap are beginning to pay off,” said Dr. Charles Weis, Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools. “Now, we need to continue to build off of the strong momentum we’ve established, in order to achieve our goal of eliminating the gap by 2020.”
The entire COE analysis is posted at www.sccoe.org.
Date last updated: August 17, 2011
