Testing report details gains

Data said to show 'achievement gap'

California’s low-income and limited-English-speaking students posted modest gains in reading and math on this year’s standardized achievement test, but continued to score well below the national average. The performance of the state’s poor and non-English speakers was highlighted Monday when the state Department of Education released additional analysis of this year’s Stanford 9 achievement test scores.

The report, a follow-up to scores announced last month, separates students’ results by income, English ability, sex and other factors and is envisioned by educators as a way to identify students for whom existing programs might not be working.

“This data shines a spotlight on the state’s achievement gap,” said Joan McRobbie, an analyst with WestEd, a federally funded education research group based in San Francisco. “There are groups of children in California that are not getting the same kind of opportunity that other kids are getting.”

The state requires that students in second through 11th grades be tested in English using a nationally normed test of basic skills.

Using fourth grade as an example, only 26 percent of California’s economically disadvantaged students — those receiving free or reduced lunches — scored at or above the 50th percentile nationally in reading. By comparison, 66 percent of non-disadvanted fourth-graders reached the 50th percentile threshold.

The figures are similarly disparate for other students.

Of California students with limited English skills, only 13 percent of fourth-graders reached the 50th percentile nationally in reading, compared with 56 percent of those proficient in English.

In 1999, 11 percent of non-English-speaking students reached the 50th percentile.

“Our schools serve a population that is extremely diverse,” said state schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin. “Not surprisingly, the (test) results show it is difficult for students to do well in academic content areas until they are proficient in English.”

In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 227, which banned bilingual education. On Monday, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ron Unz, who sponsored the initiative, credited the ban for the state’s modest rise in its limited-English-proficiency scores.

Eastin also praised the performance of other students whose test scores increased by single digits over last year’s scores in almost all subjects and grade levels.

The Department of Education also broke down results for every district and school.

Among the three largest Sacramento area districts, San Juan posted the highest scores for low-income and non-English speakers. The local districts — including Elk Grove and Sacramento City — mirrored the state trend, however, with large numbers of poor and non-English speakers scoring below the national average.

“We have a lot more kids who are below the poverty line who don’t speak English as a primary language and need a lot more assistance,” said Maria Lopez, Sacramento City Unified spokeswoman.

Test results also showed that female students generally scored higher than males, except in science and history/social science.

This is the third year of the Stanford 9 achievement test in California. It is given each spring and is a key element of education reforms passed by the state Legislature.

This latest sub-grouping of scores is required under the state’s education reform laws. The Department of Education released supplemental scores last year, but officials later determined that the many school districts’ demographic information had been incorrectly tallied. The department rescinded its analysis, then later re-released it, but many educators discounted the numbers, fearing they were still flawed.

“This is still considered preliminary data,” department spokesman Doug Stone said of this year’s numbers. “But we have not seen any systematic problems that would lead us to hold it back.”

Educators have long grappled with the problem of lifting the achievement of low-income and non-English-speaking students.

“Meeting the diverse needs of these children is a real challenge,” said Karen Ciraulo, a third-grade teacher at Kingswood Elementary School in San Juan Unified. “They come with a variety of skills and multiple languages.”

Complete test results will be available on the Internet beginning at 10 a.m. today athttp://star.cde.ca.gov



Comments are closed.