Less than half of the state’s public school students passed new Common Core-aligned statewide tests, according to data released today.
Statewide, 44 percent of the 3.2 million students who took the test last spring met or exceeded the English language arts standard and 34 percent met or exceeded the mathematics standard on the new California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) standardized tests.
In San Bernardino County, the numbers were even lower, with 37 percent of the more than 210,000 students who took the test meeting or exceeding the English language arts standard, and 25 percent of students met or exceeded the math standard.
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
“I applaud our teachers, students, schools and districts for their hard work in preparation and conversion to the new testing requirements,” San Bernardino County Superintendent Ted Alejandre is quoted as saying in a press release. “These tests will serve as new barometers to prepare our students for college and careers.”
More or less across the board, the new scores are lower than what Californians are used to seeing for their local districts and schools. That’s not a surprise, according to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
“By raising the bar, we’ve gone to higher, tougher standards,” said Torlakson in a telephone press conference Wednesday morning. “So it’s natural, in that case, that the vast majority of students will be in a different place than they were.”
Those higher standards were in response to feedback from the state’s universities and employers, Torlakson said.
“Higher standards in K-12 are the cornerstone on which California will build its future. By preparing more students to be both college and career-ready, the standards are directly impacting the fabric of our state, facilitating our transition to a knowledge-based economy which provides social mobility for all Californians,” State University Chancellor Timothy P. White is quoted as saying in a statement issued by the university system. “The test results signal the need for teachers, parents and local communities to work together to support students on their path to college and workforce success.”
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
Employers are demanding more of their employers today, according to David Rattray, senior vice president, Education & Workforce Development for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We need to have those same higher expectations of the state’s students,” he said. “These are the highest standards we’ve ever established for K-12.”
UNDERSTANDING THE NEW TEST
About 3.2 million third- through eighth- and 11th-graders statewide took the CAASPP tests last spring, a replacement for the venerable California Standards Test (CST), which was first approved in 1997 and phased out in 2013. (Less than 1 percent of California students have opted out of taking the tests, much lower than most other states.)
The new tests are aligned to the more rigorous Common Core State Standards, developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, which emphasize reasoning and deep understanding of topics.
The CAASPP tests are a modified version of the national Smarter Balanced tests, which were also taken by 17 other states. (A second set of Common Core-aligned tests, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers [PARCC], was taken in other states as well, and some states have developed their own tests.) In theory, it should be easier to compare how students are doing in one state with another.
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
“We have moved beyond ‘proficiency’ and on to being college and career-ready,” said Keric Ashley, deputy superintendent for the District, School, and Innovation Branch of the state Department of Education, at Torlakson’s press conference. So an 11th grader that has met the standard is “conditionally ready” for college, while one who exceeds the 11th grade standard is deemed ready for college.
Instead of students filling in circles with a No. 2 pencil on paper-based multiple choice tests, the Smarter Balanced tests are taken on a computer and require manipulating elements on the screen, typing in answers and more elements intended to both better test student understanding of the material and prevent schools from artificially inflating scores by teaching test taking strategies like having students eliminating obvious wrong choices and guessing between what remains when stuck.
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
“This is a positive thing, because this is what our students are going to have to do when they graduate high school,” said Dave Olney, Hesperia Unified’s assistant superintendent of innovative technology and communication.
The new tests also put a stronger focus on writing than the CSTs did.
“Writing has become a huge focus in our districts, huge,” said Jan Gonzales, superintendent of the Victor Elementary School District.
“APPLES TO WATERMELONS”
Historically, the CST was one of the elements used to create the Academic Performance Index (API) score used to grade each school and district. API scores, which haven’t been updated since 2013, are used for everything from compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind law to marketing houses. But Wednesday’s test scores won’t move the needle on those: This year’s Smarter Balanced test scores are meant to establish a starting point and don’t count toward a new API score. Lawmakers are undecided on what to include in a new API or its successor acronym.
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
“This is a baseline year,” Torlakson said. “We’re going to have our own California definition of success.”
Although the Smarter Balanced tests have a different scale than previous standardized tests, with Byzantine score ranges -- a 2114 is the lowest possible score for a third-grader taking an English Language Arts/Literacy test, while a 2623 is the best possible score, and the range for an 11th grader is 175 points higher at both the lowest and highest end -- educators are worried that parents and taxpayers will try to compare the CAASPP and older CST scores too closely.
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
Comparing the CAASPP scores to the older scores would be “like comparing apples to watermelons,” Torlakson warned.
“It’s important for our parents, community, and taxpayers to remember that these tests are too different from the old tests to make any comparisons,” said Linda Bardere, spokeswoman for San Bernardino City Unified. “They’re based on the new content standards that set higher standards for students and the new tests are designed to grade students on those higher standards.”
Still, it will be hard for Californians not to compare the new scores to the old ones, particularly for those used to seeing their schools with top-end scores suddenly doing a lot worse, even on a different system.
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
In 2013, 56.4 percent of students statewide tested scored proficient or better in English language arts and 51.2 percent scored proficient or better in math.
But part of the perceived drop in scores is due to education officials choosing to set benchmarks high on this test. Combined with this being the first real Smarter Balanced test students and educators have been through, officials went in expecting a lot of room for improvement.
“We knew (scores were) going to be lower than the CSTs, because it’s a more rigorous exam,” said Antonio Cediel, associate superintendent of teaching and learning for Fontana Unified. “I think no one likes to see lower numbers, it’s just human nature ... but every test has its own scale.”
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
And, Cediel said, the results give them data for how to close the gap.
“It’s a baseline, it’s nothing to get overly concerned about,” he said. “But it does signal that we do have a significant amount of work to do, which I think we already knew.”
This isn’t the final new test California’s students will be facing in the near future: A new standardized test aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards will be coming at some point, yet to be decided, in the next few years. The results of last year’s CST science tests, which were also released on Wednesday, showed only that 57 percent of students were proficient in the old standards, down from 61 percent the year before.
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY CAASPP RESULTS
Percent of students meeting or exceeding the standard on the 2015 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).
California average: English 44 percent, math 34 percent
San Bernardino County average: English 37 percent, math 25 percent
Adelanto Elementary School District: English 20 percent, math 10 percent
Alta Loma School District: English 58 percent, math 46 percent
Apple Valley Unified: English 38 percent, math 22 percent
Baker Valley Unified: English 30 percent, math 15 percent
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
Barstow Unified: English 30 percent, math 23 percent
Central School District: English 47 percent, math 32 percent
Chaffey Joint Union High School District: English 65 percent, math 34 percent
Chino Valley Unified: English 55 percent, math 43 percent
Colton Joint Unified: English 33 percent, math 19 percent
Cucamonga School District: English 35 percent, math 19 percent
Etiwanda School District: English 58 percent, math 53 percent
Fontana Unified: English 28 percent, math 17 percent
Helendale School District: English 36 percent, math 25 percent
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
Hesperia Unified: English 30 percent, math 19 percent
Lucerne Valley Unified: English 29 percent, math 15 percent
Morongo Unified: English 44 percent, math 32 percent
Mountain View Elementary School District: English 43 percent, math 26 percent
Mt. Baldy Joint Elementary School District: English 68 percent, math 61 percent
Needles Unified: English 31 percent, math 22 percent
Ontario-Montclair School District: English 27 percent, math 17 percent
Oro Grande Elementary School District: English 35 percent, math 20 percent
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
Redlands Unified: English 53 percent, math 40 percent
Rialto Unified: English 29 percent, math 17 percent
Rim of the World Unified: English 36 percent, math 21 percent
San Bernardino City Unified: English 28 percent, math 17 percent
Snowline Joint Unified: English 38 percent, math 28 percent
Trona Joint Unified: English 27 percent, math 26 percent
Upland Unified: English 48 percent, math 36 percent
Victor Elementary School District: English 28 percent, math 18 percent
Victor Valley Union High School District: English 37 percent, math 19 percent
end articleparagraph1.pbo start articleparagraph1.pbo
Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified: English 35 percent, math 31 percent