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STAR testing shows Valley students have improved

By Raiza Canelon/Staff Writer

Santa Ynez Valley students’ performance on standardized tests in science improved dramatically for a few schools from the previous year, according to the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program preliminary results that were released to the public last Thursday.

Solvang School District and Los Olivos School District had the most impressive increases of more than 20 percent in science. Last year Solvang was at 50 percent and this year is at 71.1 percent. Los Olivos was at 56.8 percent last year and is now at 77 percent.

“We have had increases across the board, but a lot of the strength comes from the teachers and the parents. It’s the collaboration of the two that creates improvement in school. I really believe the greatest factor to improve test scores is the teachers and parents,” said Gary Crispin, principal at Los Olivos Elementary.

Like Solvang and Los Olivos, Buellton Union School District also showed a dramatic increase in science from 53.9 percent in 2007 to 66.9 percent this year.

STAR is composed of five tests. The one most closely indicative of student achievement is the California Standards Test (CST), because it measures how well students are learning the state’s content standards. Students in second through 11th grades take the test each spring in the four core academic areas, English-language arts, math, science and history-social science.

College School District had an increase in science from 62.7 percent last year to 69.8 percent this year, but they fell a few points in English and in history. Their math scores improved by 1 percent.

Santa Ynez Valley Union High School showed no change in their history scores, but their science and math scores decreased by 7 percent or more in both categories.

“Teachers should be very proud that students performed well and represented the school in an incredible way, however there is more work to do,” said Paul Turnbull, superintendent of SYVUHS.

“Math and English are a big focus because of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ program and the main issue with us, because we are a high performing school, is that it is difficult to maintain high level of achievement but it doesn’t mean we are satisfied. For us as educators it’s important all students perform well,” he continued.

Students end up in one of five categories on the CST — advanced, proficient, basic, below basic and far below basic. The state’s ultimate goal is for all California students to reach the proficient or advanced level for every subject in order to meet state growth targets and federal No Child Left Behind requirements, according to the California Department of Education.

Statewide, 45.8 percent of students were proficient or advanced in English/language arts, 35.7 percent in history, 42.7 percent in math and 46.2 percent in science.

In Santa Barbara County, 45.5 percent of students were proficient or advanced in English/language arts, 34.8 percent in history, 42.3 percent in math, and 47.8 percent in science.

FYI: For details on STAR test scores for individual schools and local districts, visit http://star.cde.ca.gov.

Raiza Canelon can be reached at 688-5522, Ext. 6008, or rcanelon@syvnews.com.