Extra effort on the part of students and teachers alike is raising student achievement in California, as is evident in Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) results released in July.
In the third year of statewide testing and class size reduction, students are now performing near (or at) the national median in grammar, reading, math and spelling.
"This data shows that investing in public schools is what produces results," says CTA President Wayne Johnson. "The new scores show that public school teachers are not only accountable for their work, but that their hard work is paying off."
CTA continues to maintain that the academic progress of a student or a school cannot be based on one test and that the test is unfair to students, "but we are pleased that the test scores reflect the hard work that is being done in California's classrooms."
Compared to 1998 scores, the percentage of students scoring at or above the 50th percentile increased by an average of 3 to 8 points in reading, language, spelling and math, with the biggest gains coming in grades impacted by efforts to reduce class size.
Statewide math scores for third-graders rose 16 points, according to the STAR results posted on the California Department of Education Web site [www.cde.ca. gov]. In grades 2-11, math scores averaged a gain of 8 percentage points; language, 5 points; and reading, 3 points. Spelling scores for grades 2-8 averaged 7-point gains.
In grades impacted by California's class size reduction program, score increases reflected gains by all students, even English language learners, many of whom had to take the test in English. Approximately 25 percent of California's students speak English as a second language.
"Teachers here are ecstatic," says Sandra Nelson, president of the Perris Elementary School Teachers Association (PESTA), whose district is located outside of Riverside and has mostly minority, low-income students. "I think we did very well; our STAR tests were very high."
The Perris Elementary School District experienced a 103-point gain in the Academic Performance Indicator, going from 497 to 600. Comparing the 1997-98 school year with the 1999-2000 school year shows a large overall jump in the percentage of students scoring at or above the 50th percentile. Sixth-graders increased their scores by 19 percentage points in reading, 38 points in math, 19 points in language and 25 points in spelling. Second-graders increased their scores by 16 points in reading and 17 points in math. Third-graders increased their scores by 20 points in math.
"We've worked very hard to make these improvements happen," says Nelson. "Teachers have paid attention to the areas of scores where we saw weaknesses, and focused on teaching in those areas. We are looking for those corners we forgot to dust."
PESTA members also met in grade-level teams, working to align all curricula to state standards. When textbooks were found to be lacking, they bought supplemental materials. "We were not teaching to the test, but we were making sure things on the test were being taught," says Nelson.
Teachers at Nan Sanders Elementary in the district, categorized as an underperforming school, spent three days at a retreat to do soul-searching. "We met from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with an outside evaluator, and wrote our own improvement plan," says Nelson. "Out of that came a plan that is working. It is working because teachers had some buy-in."
Teachers in the Ravenswood District Teachers Association (RDTA) are also celebrating. The district serves primarily low socio-economic minority students who reside in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park.
In addition to a significant overall jump in the percentage of students scoring at or above the 50th percentile, second-grade scores increased by 22 points in reading, 32 points in math, 26 points in language and 26 points in spelling. In addition, fourth-grade scores increased by 8 points in reading, 13 points in math and 7 points in language.
How did it happen?
"I think the biggie was emphasizing reading," says RDTA President Martha Hanks. "We have had reading coaches for three years working with K-3 teachers. This has laid the foundation to help kids when they get into the upper grades. And we plan to expand reading coaches to grades K-8."
Hanks, a reading coach herself, says the program, which was funded by computer mogul David Packard, has expired, but the district plans to continue using coaches because the program has been so successful.
In addition to reading coaches that emphasize reading skills and phonemic awareness, the district has increased parental involvement, says Hanks. "I've had workshops for parents that emphasize reading and strategies to use at home with their children. We talk to parents about how they can help with homework, and set a mood so their children are excited about learning. Parents can give their children that extra push."
Ravenswood also matched curriculum to the state standards, says Linda Conley, an RDTA member who teaches kindergarten. "In many cases we matched state standards with pages in the students' books and teachers' workbooks. It was a lot of work, and it's an ongoing process. Teachers were grouped by grade level to talk about what skills should be covered at each grade level. After that, we tested children at our schools, looking for 80 percent mastery. If they did not show 80 percent mastery, we knew what we needed to work on."
Tim Draper's Prop. 38 voucher initiative threatens the gains that California students continue to make.
"This is not the time to try a risky, expensive experiment like vouchers that will just drain money away from our public schools," says Johnson. "This is the time to build on our success. Only by investing in our schools will we continue to improve performance."
