Politics & Government
Students’ STAR Results Lower than State and County Averages
The controversial test shows Redwood City students proficient in some areas, not in others.
The percentage of students testing proficient on standardized language arts and math tests increased from the previous school year, but remained lower than overall county and state percentages. students’ proficiency percentages varied depending on the grade tested.
It’s a debate that has been stewing since the introduction of the standardized test. Many education experts believe California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) tests are fair, but education experts have criticized standardized tests as an inadequate measure of a student’s aptitude or even intelligence. There are many other measurements for students’ academic achievement, including a school’s Achievement Performance Index (API) and other qualitative honors, like being named a California Distinguished School.
Regardless, STAR tests have been used annually to gauge a student’s general proficiency in a given subject. Under the STAR program, California students attain one of five levels of performance: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic, and far below basic.
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A little more than 50 percent of Redwood City School District students and Sequoia High School students scored proficient or advanced in Language Arts. Almost 60 percent were proficient in Mathematics.
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LANGUAGE ARTS
Grade Redwood City 2009-2010 Redwood City 2010-2011 San Mateo County California 2 43 46 63 56 3 39 40 55 46 4 61 56 72 64 5 58 53 68 59 6 49 52 62 55 7 51 54 69 57 8 47 52 65 57 9 63 59 64 55 10 54 56 58 48 11 43 54 53 52
MATHEMATICS
Grade Redwood City 2009-2010 Redwood City 2010-2011 San Mateo County California 2 60 64 74 66 3 66 65 75 68 4 70 67 76 71 5 65 61 68 63 6 44 50 58 53 7 48 48 58 50
ADVANCED MATHEMATICS
Grade Redwood City 2009-2010 Redwood City 2010-2011 Percent Enrollment San Mateo County California Algebra 7 97 60 5.5 92 83
8 46 48 57.3 53 47
9 25 18 43.8 30 23
10 17 18 31.9 15 13
11 8 15 11.4 9 9 Geometry 8 97 74 3.9 94 88
9 61 59 25.4 69 47
10 20 33 23 25 42
11 8 8 27.5 10 22 Algebra II 9 91 89 11.6 89 69
10 68 60 23 56 43
11 15 22 23 17 16
Less than half of 5th graders are proficient in Social Science, but become almost 60 percent proficient in U.S. History when they reach 11th grade.
SOCIAL STUDIES, U.S. HISTORY
Grade Redwood City 2009-2010 Redwood City 2010-2011 San Mateo County California 8 35 42 60 50 11 44 59 57 48
The percentage of students proficient in the science exam dropped from last year across all three grades, but Redwood City students as a whole became more proficient as they advanced grades.
SCIENCE
Grade Redwood City 2009-2010 2010-2011 San Mateo County California 5 48 45 65 58 8 47 47 70 63 10 58 57 58 50
ADVANCED SCIENCE
Grade Redwood City 2009-2010 2010-2011 Percent Enrollment San Mateo County California Biology 9 84 77 39.2 76 57 10 35 23 49.6 37 41 11 40 50 25 58 49 Chemistry 10 73 63 27 53 46 11 37 20 15.9 26 29 Physics 9 93 2.6 38 42 10 75 61 12.9 24 47 11 57 51 32.7 31 56
The full results can be found on the California Department of Education Standardized Testing and Reporting Web page at http://star.cde.ca.gov/.
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