California students continue to make steady academic progress in English language arts, mathematics, science and history/social science, according to 2010 Standardized Testing and Reporting Program results.
“ACSA believes the gains made in academic achievement are a direct result of quality school leadership and dedicated educators throughout the state,” said ACSA Assistant Executive Director Julie White. “While we acknowledge these gains, we also acknowledge the achievement gap and will continue to work hard to close that gap.”
In the eight years since all California Standards Tests were completely aligned to state standards, the percentage of students scoring at the Proficient or Advanced level increased by 17 points in English language arts, or from 35 percent to 52 percent, and 13 points in mathematics, from 35 percent to 48 percent.
Since 2003, 731,133 additional California students have reached Proficient or Advanced levels in English language arts and 586,765 more students have attained the same levels in math. Since last year, the percentage of students at or above the Proficient level increased by 2 points in ELA and 2 points in math.
“For the eighth consecutive year, California’s public school student performance has improved,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. “Even as schools struggle with the ongoing state fiscal crisis, it is impressive that we are seeing sustained growth in proficiency.”
In science, the percentage of students scoring at the Proficient level and above increased by 4 percentage points across all grade levels. Notable gains were also seen in all grade levels since these assessments were first administered.
While the percentage of students achieving Proficient and above has increased in all end-of-course tests, physics had the greatest increase of 20 percentage points, since 2003. Gains were 3 percentage points over last year.
In history/social science, the number of students who scored at the Proficient level and above on the grade 8 test increased by 5 percentage points since 2009, and 20 percentage points between the years of 2003 and 2010.
On the grade 11 U.S. history test, students who achieved the proficient level and above showed an 11 percentage point gain between the years of 2003 and 2010. The percentage of students in grades 9-11 who achieved at the Proficient level or above on the end-of-course world history test increased by 6 percentage points since 2009.
The recent STAR results show that the gap in achievement between African American and white students remained relatively unchanged from 2009 to 2010 in both ELA and mathematics, while the gap in achievement between Hispanic/Latino students and white students narrowed slightly.
When all eight years of CST results are measured, the achievement gap narrows by 4 percentage points between Hispanic/Latino students and their white counterparts in both ELA and mathematics. Over the same time period, the gap between African American students and their white counterparts narrowed by just 1 percentage point in both math and in English language arts.
“The growth in achievement is evident among every subgroup of students. However, we must continue to pay close attention to the achievement gap that shows students of color and poverty are trailing behind their peers,” O’Connell said. “We must continue to seek and implement strategies that can help accelerate gains toward proficiency needed to narrow this academic chasm.”
For complete STAR results, visit the California Department of Education online at http://star.cde.ca.gov.