Your student might be a STAR, but she just doesn't know it

Agoura High School is raising STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) awareness through a unique campaign involving school and community.

The STAR testing is administered to second through 11thgrade students each May, but is not always taken seriously by students, school officials say.

According to Joe Keays, a math teacher who's leading the awareness campaign, STAR testing is crucial to the community. The test scores—which measure student mastery of California standards in math, language arts, science and social studies—are eventually computed into an API (Academic Performance Index) score for each school. The API is a widely quoted score that ranks schools statewide.

Real estate values, for one, can be tied to STAR scores, Keays said. Many people investigate school scores before moving into a community. Low test scores might reflect on a community that doesn't care as much about education as another community, he said.

"Doing well is in everyone's interest," Keays said. "We're trying to promote a culture that cares about STAR testing."

From 2004 to 2008, Agoura High School improved its STAR results every year. The last API score—839—is central to this year's campaign. Signs with the 839 message are posted all around the campus. School scores range from 200 to 1000. The benchmark for all California schools is 800.

Teachers have integrated the STAR message in classes, Assistant Principal Sherry Bronow said. The school newspaper has been running articles about the importance of doing well on the tests, which are scheduled to start midmonth. Leadership students and LinkCrew teams, a program to help freshmen adjust to high school, plan to present improvisational skits and PowerPoint presentations to classes on the importance of STAR testing, Bronow said.

All students were treated to an InNOut burger lunch as a thankyou for last year's hard work on the tests. Students consumed more than 1,500 burgers, Bronow said. On the morning of the first day of testing, students will be treated to a pancake breakfast.

A logo contest was conducted, with student James Altman winning first place.

Teachers in every discipline are working to raise awareness for the test and are holding seminars for students who want to brush up on a particular subject.

There will be video announcements, and a pasta dinner, similar to the freshman cram session, will be offered the night before the test.

Many students are involved in the campaign. Junior Milli Desai said the goal is to make the student testing "more communityfocused."

"The (API) score is what defines us," Milli said. "(But) right now the culture is that the test is not important."

"Testing is not going away," Bronow said.