LVUSD stars in student testing

Students in Las Virgenes Unified School District continue to outperform their peers throughout California in standardized testing.

The STAR (California Standardized Testing and Reporting) exam was administered to all students from second to 11th grade last spring and the results were released Monday by the California Department of Education.

The test now concentrates more on California standards rather than the nationally-normed testing in previous exams. California standards were developed for each grade and students are expected to learn basic skills in English, math and other subjects.

Student scores are divided into five categories: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic and far below basic.

At the elementary level, students are tested in English/language arts and math.

In middle school and high school, the math test given to students depends on the math class they’re taking—standard math, algebra or geometry—and their strength in the subject.

For the science test, students may be tested in biology, earth science, chemistry, or physics, depending on their current class. High school students are also tested in U.S. and world history.

Statewide, 40 percent of students tested proficient or above in English and in math, 38 percent earned proficient or higher.

In Las Virgenes, 81 percent of all students scored at proficient or above in English. Most grades in the district showed strength in this area. Nearly every grade had 70 percent of its students performing at proficient or advanced, although eleventh grade students scored the lowest in English at 61 percent.

In math, Las Virgenes students in grades two through four scored at over 80 percent proficient or advanced. Among the seventh grade students, 70 percent were proficient or higher.

In Algebra I, eighth graders performed phenomenally, with 95 percent performing at proficient or advanced.

The federal government will use state and local test results to determine whether schools have made “adequate yearly weeks.

The STAR scores are used for the Academic Performance Index, a rating determined by the state of California. The index determines if a school is underperforming in meeting academic standards.

Schools whose students don’t make sufficient progress on standardized testing face range of consequences.

If the school is deemed underperforming, students can transfer to a higher performing school. If an underper-forming school doesn’t remedy the prob

lems, the state could take over its

operation. progress” under the No Child Left Behind Act. These results will be available within two