Annual report cards issued Thursday show mostly improvement in Morgan Hill students.
Results of the state's Standardized Testing and Reporting, or STAR, show moderate gains in English, history and science.
Fifty-one percent of students scored advanced or proficient - the two categories that count as annual yearly progress by state and national standards - in English, a two-point gain over 2007 and 2006's 49 percent. In history, 43 percent of students were advanced or proficient, compared with 39 in 2007 and 43 in 2006. For science, 41 percent were proficient or above, compared with 2007's 38 and 2006's 40 percents.
The math score alone dropped five points from 37 in 2007 to 33 percent. The math score was also 37 percent in 2006.
Algebra I contributed to the lagging number with a seemingly abysmal 21 percent, down seven points from last year's 34 percent and lower still than 2006's 27 percent.
Morgan Hill Unified School District Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot said contrary to what people might think at first glance, the math scores - even though scores are lower this year than last - are good news.
"It's not surprising to see drops," she said. Algebra I has only been a required class starting in 2006, she noted, so she expected a drop.
In 2006, 184 eighth-graders took Algebra I, and no seventh-graders took the course. In 2007, 213 eighth-graders and 74 seventh-graders took the course. This year, 370 eighth-graders took Algebra I and 136 seventh-graders did so.
Taking these numbers into consideration, Hover-Smoot said she was excited about the scores.
Hover-Smoot echoed Superintendent Alan Nishino's proverb that more students taking a course means more students have the chance to pass it. Nishino did not immediately return a call for comment.
General math, or middle school math, scored worse with 15 percent, down four points from last year's 19 percent. In 2006, general math students scored 29 percent.
Statewide, 43 percent scored proficient or better in math - a two-point gain over last year.
Forty-six percent of California's students met minimum standards in English, a three percent increase over last year.
Keeping in line with troublesome county and state trends, Morgan Hill's Hispanic students scored lower than the average, sometimes by less than half. For English, Hispanic students scored 31 percent to the district's overall 51 percent. In math, Hispanics scored 18 percent. History and science scores for this group were 25 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
Looking more closely at the numbers, one Hispanic tenth grader out of 120 scored proficiently on the Algebra I STAR test. One Hispanic tenth grader and one Hispanic eleventh grader, out of 95 and 83, respectively, scored proficient in geometry.
Natalie Everett Natalie Everett covers education and city issues for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106, ext. 201, or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.
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