SAN JOSE, CA – Students in Santa Clara County continue to perform well in the second year of the student assessment system known as CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress), which has more rigorous college and career-ready standards than previous state testing. County students outperformed their counterparts across the state and showed gains over the previous year according to data released today by the California Department of Education.
"It is great this assessment allows us to see the progress students are making from one year to the next," said Jon R. Gundry, County Superintendent of Schools. "Not only are county students performing at rates higher than the state, they also improved upon their results from last year in almost every category and grade level."
Staff from the Department of Assessment and Accountability of the Santa Clara County Office of Education did an in-depth analysis of the results and noted the following highlights:
- For the ELA (English Language Arts) assessments, 62 percent of Santa Clara County students reached the Standard Met or Standard Exceeded achievement levels compared to 49 percent of students statewide.
- For the mathematics assessments, 55 percent of Santa Clara County students reached the Standard Met or Standard Exceeded achievement levels compared to 37 percent of students statewide.
- Santa Clara County students met or exceeded standards at higher rates than their statewide counterparts at all grade levels (grades 3-8 and 11) on the ELA and mathematics assessments.
- Overall and in eight of nine subgroups, Santa Clara County students equaled or bettered their statewide counterparts in terms of the Standard Met or Standard Exceeded achievement levels on both the ELA and mathematics assessments.
- All Santa Clara County subgroups increased their percentages of students meeting or exceeding standards on both assessments by at least one percentage point.
The results also show that some challenges remain:
- A substantial achievement gap exists between Hispanic/Latino students and white and Asian students in the county.
- For ELA, there is a 47 percentage point difference between the percent of Hispanic/Latino and Asian students that reached the Standard Met or Standard Exceeded achievement levels. Math results show a 57 percentage point difference.
- Within Santa Clara County there is a substantial achievement gap between Economically Disadvantaged and Not Economically Disadvantaged students.
- For ELA, there is a 40 percentage point difference. The gap is even larger in math, where there is a 44 percentage point difference.
CAASPP replaces the previous Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) system and consists of the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments. Students take both a computer-based and computer-adaptive test, providing them with a wider range of questions tailored to more accurately identify the knowledge and skills they have mastered. The tests also include performance tasks that challenge students to demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving, and to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems.
Assessments are based on a growth model that allows the California Department of Education to produce comparisons that can track students' progress through the grade levels. The results should not be compared to results of the outmoded STAR system as they are far too different to make any valid comparisons.
The new computer-based tests also include support for English learners and students with special needs, allowing these students the ability to effectively demonstrate their knowledge and skills – critical information to the classroom teachers.
Individual student results are just one way to assess the progress of students. Students and parents should review the test results in combination with report cards, class assignment grades, and teacher feedback.
The entire analysis and other information relating to CAASPP can be found at www.sccoe.org/caaspp.
# # #
