Students show gains on standardized test scores
Achievement gap still prevalent with Black students
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Students in Los Angeles County continued to show improvement on standardized tests, with higher percentages of them scoring advanced or proficient in math and English, according to results released today by the state Department of Education.
The improvement in scores on the 2011 Standardized Testing and Reporting Program mirrored increases seen across the state, according to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
“The significant and sustained improvements we’ve seen for nine consecutive years prove how hard teachers, school employees, administrators and parents are working to help students achieve despite budget cuts that have affected our schools,” Torlakson said. “Their heroic teamwork is paying off for California.”
More than 1.2 million students in Los Angeles County were tested, with 51 percent scoring advanced or proficient in English-language arts and 47.7 percent in mathematics, according to figures released by the state. Both figures represent increases from 2010, when 48.3 percent of students scored advanced or proficient in English and 45 percent achieved those levels in math.
In the Los Angeles Unified School District, 43.9 percent of students scored advanced or proficient in English-language arts, up from 40.5 percent last year. In math, 42.9 percent scored advanced or proficient, an increase from 39 percent last year.
The LAUSD and Los Angeles County numbers all lag behind the statewide average, which shows 54.4 percent scoring advanced or proficient in English and 50.3 percent in math.
Torlakson noted, however, that the scores continue to show an achievement gap, with Black, Latino, English-learner and low-income students lagging behind their peers.
“We have more work to do to make sure every student receives the world-class education he or she deserves and has the opportunity to achieve their dreams and contribute to the success of our state,” he said. “I’m committed to that effort—and to working with California’s leaders to provide our schools and our communities with the resources they need.”
About 4.7 million students took part in the 2011 STAR program, which includes California Standards Tests, California Modified Assessment, California Alternate Performance Assessment and Standards-based Tests in Spanish for Spanish-speaking and English-learner students.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Los Angeles Unified School District 10th graders fared slightly better on the California High School Exit Exam than last year’s class, with 75 percent passing the math portion and the same percentage passing the English section, according to test results released today.
The scores were an improvement over last year’s 10th grade class, which had a 72 percent pass rate for the math section of the test, and 73 percent on the English section, according to the California Department of Education.
SOUTH GATE, Calif.—The Los Angeles Unified School District plans to make crisis counselors available today to students and staffers at South East High School in South Gate, where a 17th-year-old student was stabbed to death on Friday, allegedly by her 18-year-old ex-boyfriend.
The counselors will be on campus from about 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. today.
SOUTH GATE, Calif.—A male student stabbed a female student at South East High School during a lunchtime argument today, and three other people were injured while breaking up the fight.
The female student was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to county fire Inspector Matt Levesque. A total of five people—including the assailant—were hospitalized, he said.
Paramedics were sent to the school at 2720 Tweedy Blvd. about 11 a.m., Levesque said.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Academic Performance Index score for Los Angeles Unified schools—summarizing students’ performance on a series of tests—rose by 19 points in 2010-11, besting the statewide average.
The district’s score went from 709 last year to 728. The statewide API score increased by 11 points, from 767 last year to 778, according to figures released today by the California Department of Education.
The scores range from 200 to 1,000, with a performance target of 800.
Students from the final class enrolled in Locke High School when the Los Angeles Unified School District ran the campus were among the 484 seniors who celebrated their graduation from the South Los Angeles school, now operated by Green Dot Public Schools. Green Dot assumed control of Locke in 2008, after the majority of the school’s teachers voted to go with the charter operator. Among the improvements Green Dot says have been made is an increased number of students graduating with the college-prep A-G courses, from 85 to 264.
