Last week, parents received their children’s STAR test results by mail. While the official results still need to be tabulated and massaged to produce the Annual Progress Report (AYP) which delineates the advanced, proficient, basic, etc. level status for each student, the numbers look startlingly familiar.
Of course, the data is different here and there, as should be expected from year-to-year. Overall, it tells the same story as years past – as a school district, half of the students are not learning at grade level.
For instance English language arts: looking at 2009 test results for seventh grade, just over half of students are at grade level. This is taking into account students at every level of the educational spectrum. Of those students who are categorized as socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED) and/or English language learners (ELL), half are either below or considerably below grade level.
In ninth grade language arts, students perform better with greater numbers reaching grade level. But by the 11th grade, the numbers dip again and are almost identical to the scores for seventh grade.
Scores for math are even worse. By seventh grade fewer than half the students are at grade level. Of SED and ELL students only about one-third have reached grade level learning.
Budget cuts totaling $2.5 million will be levied come January 2010. The district has set up a series of workshops for the general public before the cuts occur. These meetings will be held on Sept. 29, Oct. 21, and Nov. 17.
As for STAR test results, these numbers will be addressed at a special school board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 22, based on student achievement.
