STAR test results: Achievement gap persists
Published: August 23, 2007
The latest Standardized Testing and Reporting scores in California reflect a continuing nationwide divide between many white or Asian students and those of other racial and ethic backgrounds —an achievement gap that demands a concerted and comprehensive effort to overcome, educators, policy-makers and others in the education community said following the data’s release Aug. 15.
“The test results reflect the enormous and ongoing efforts of local educators to raise student achievement,” CSBA Assistant Executive Director Holly Jacobson said, noting continued gains among students overall in English language arts and science. “However, the persistent achievement gaps underscore the difficulty in mitigating the profoundly negative impacts related to poverty and race.”
CSBA has long been working on the achievement gap and continues to study ways to assist its members' efforts to help their students realize their full potential, Jacobson pointed out.
“In order to close these gaps, we must accelerate the achievement of all students who are performing at lower levels than their higher-achieving classmates. To this end, CSBA is working with school boards to focus on the needs of specific ethnic groups.”
CSBA’s governing board has at-large directors representing the interests of black, Hispanic, American Indian and Asian/Pacific Islanders, as well as those of nontraditional students who are served by county boards of education. Those student groups will each be the focal point of breakout sessions at CSBA’s Annual Conference and Trade Show in San Diego Nov. 29-Dec. 1, while the achievement gap will also figure prominently in many other discussions.
“However, schools cannot be expected close this gap alone,” said Jacobson, who heads CSBA’s Policy Analysis team. “It is also clear that cities and counties need to work in partnership with schools to address many of the underlying conditions that children of color and children living in poverty experience and which impact our schools’ ability to accelerate their learning.”
‘Achievement Gap Summit’ Nov. 13-14
As he released the STAR scores at an elementary school in Inglewood, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell pointed out that the test results have continued to rise since the California Standards Tests were completely aligned with state standards in 2003—but he also readily acknowledged that the 2007 results are little changed from those of 2006. More, he stressed that differences in academic performance remain even when economic considerations are factored in.
In math, for example, 38 percent of white students who have qualified to receive subsidized meals at school—a standard marker for low-income households—scored proficient or above, compared with 36 percent of Latino students and 30 percent of black students whose family incomes exceeded the level for free or reduced-price school meals.
"Once again, these annual test scores shine a glaring light on the disparity in achievement between students who are African American or Hispanic and their white or Asian counterparts. We know all children can learn to the same high levels, so we must confront and change those things that are holding back groups of students," O’Connell said.
O’Connell earlier this year directed his Superintendent’s California P-16 Council—a statewide group of education, business, and community leaders including CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin—to examine possible factors behind the disparities and to brainstorm ideas for closing the gaps. He also scheduled an “Achievement Gap Summit” on the issue in Sacramento Nov. 13-14.
Overall proficiency steady or rising
The redoubled emphasis on the achievement gap muted some of the more positive data in the STAR scores. On the whole, the numbers reflect sustained results or continued improvement in performance on the tests, which are considered a barometer of both individual student learning and public school performance.
"We can be pleased that gains in student achievement made over the past five years are either increasing or holding steady. This progress means that hundreds of thousands of California students will have a better shot at success,” O’Connell said.
Students scoring proficient or higher are up 3 percent over a year ago in science and 1 percent in English language arts, according to state Department of Education figures.
However, the percentage of students judged proficient in math and history-social science was unchanged from last year.
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