Just before kids go back to school Thursday, the Morgan Hill
Unified School District received somewhat good news Monday:
consistency in standardized test scores.
Just before kids go back to school Thursday, the Morgan Hill Unified School District received somewhat good news Monday: consistency in standardized test scores.
Although the results released by the California Department of Education were not too drastic from the 2010 data, overall the district’s schools have maintained consistency in English and mathematics on the STAR, or Standardized Testing and Reporting program.
For second through seventh graders, 57 percent scored ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’ in English-Language Arts and 60 percent ‘proficient’ or above in mathematics, according to the Morgan Hill Times analysis. That’s a one percentage point decrease in English from last year yet the same percentage in math.
If a school fails to improve each year, according to the No Child Left Behind federal mandate, it can fall into the Program Improvement which is subject to sanctions depending on the years a school has not improved. The No Child Left Behind mandate demands that all students will pass the tests at a level of at least proficient.
Claudia Rossi, a MHUSD board of education trustee for the district said there is always room for improvement.
“It’s never enough, as long as we have any group of students that aren’t doing well, it’s our duty as board members to push to make sure they reach the proficient or higher level in test scores,” she said.
Countywide, 65 percent scored at the level of proficient or above in English language arts, while statewide numbers were lower at 54 percent. In math, the district numbers fell short of the county’s 71 percent comparison that scored proficient or above while the district performed better than the statewide figure of 50 percent, according to the Santa Clara Office of Education.
“These very encouraging results show that our efforts to eliminate the achievement gap are beginning to pay off,” said Dr. Charles Weis, Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools in a release. “Now, we need to continue to build off of the strong momentum we’ve established, in order to achieve our goal of eliminating the gap by 2020.”
Students are tested in English-language arts, math, social studies and science depending on the grade level. Each child is scored as either advanced, proficient, basic, below basic, or far below basic.
Districtwide, 17 percent of student grades second through eleventh scored at below basic or far below basic levels for English Language Arts.
The county saw an increase in the number of students taking tests in subjects essential for passing the high school exit exam, such as Algebra I. In the district, 168 more seventh to eleventh grade students took the Algebra 1 test than last year’s 980 students. Of those, 23 percent scored proficient or above.
Countywide, students in second through 11th grade reduced the achievement gap from 43 percent to 38 percent in English language arts and 39 percent in 2010 to 30 percent. Rossi said more parent and administration involvement will lay the framework for even more progress this year.
Currently, four MHUSD schools are in Program Improvement: El Toro (year two), San Martin/Gwinn (year two), P.A. Walsh (year four) and Jackson (year five). The No Child Left Behind mandate demands that all students will pass the tests at a level of at least proficient.
Jackson Elementary had 59 percent of its second through sixth graders proficient or above in English language arts, up 6 percentage points from 2010 numbers. In math, 64 percent of students scored proficient or above, 2 percentage points higher than last year.
The results released Monday do not include the Adequate Yearly Progress or Academic Performance Index, which are calculations used to measure progress for the No Child Left Behind standards. Those scores will be released Aug. 31.
