Valley elementary test scores climb slightly

The testing program, known as Standardized Testing and Reporting, or STAR, tests the knowledge of public school students in the second through 11th grades. Elementary school students are tested in four areas math, reading, language and spelling. High school students were tested in language, math, reading, science and history/social science.

Schools compare their students' progress on the STAR tests with others statewide and against the national average. Percentile rankings range from 1 to 99, with 50 being average.

A student who scores in the 50th percentile is considered to have demonstrated a average knowledge of what is expected at that particular grade level.

The Wilsona School District showed improvement in almost all grade levels and subjects, results which pleased Superintendent Mary Gerard.

"We seem to be making good progress," she said despite that fact that not all scores increased in every grade level.

Gerard added that the results did not surprise her.

Wilsona schools educate kindergarten to 12th-grade students.

"Most have improved," she said. "We want all of them to improve."

Most Wilsona students scores ranged in the 31 to 58 percentile in all subject areas, with reading scores lagging behind.

While Wilsona second-graders fared well in all four subjects, other grades scores brought down the district's overall ranking.

In reading, second-graders averaged 58; math, 66; language, 59; and spelling, 58.

Margaret Gonder, principal and director of curriculum and special programming of the Acton-Agua Dulce School District, was encouraged by its students results.

Acton-Agua Dulce serves kindergarten to 12th-grade students. "We are looking for growth," she said, adding she was most pleased with math scores.

Eleventh-graders in ActonAgua Dulce increased their percentile rankings in math by 17 points, while other grades increased their percentile scores by 3 to 9 points from 1999.

"I'm always anxious to see how well we did," she said. "We saw great growth this year."

Only in the fourth grade did Acton-Agua Dulce students not meet the 50th percentile in math. Students at this grade level scored a 48, which was five points lower than 1999.

Westside School District officials also were pleased with results, said Regina Rossall, assistant superintendent of educational services.

Westside, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade, improved their percentiles by 3 to 10 percentile points and above 50 in all subject areas.

Most students ranged from 50 to 60 in all subjects.

However, Rossall said, the real gauge is tracking a certain number of students over a number of years, rather than comparing grade level to grade level.

"Obviously, we want to improve," she said. "We still have room to grow."

The Palmdale School District's scores,, while showing improvement from 1999, still fluctuated above and below the 50th percentile in all subject areas.

Palmdale students showed the most trouble in reading, scoring in the 39 percentile in the third grade and in the 46 percentile in second grade.

Their math percentile ranged from 38 to 54; language, 44 to 52; and spelling, 41 to 47.

Palmdale Superintendent Nancy Smith said students increased scores dramatically in some areas, noting that rankings between 40 and 60 are considered average range and only fifth-grade reading fell below the standard.

"We are headed down the right path," Smith said. "We are moving in the right direction."

What surprised Smith the most were improvements at five schools where the Success for All Program is offered.

The five schools with highly structured program, which helps students who are having difficulty in various subjects areas, all showed marked improvements.

However, Smith was disappointed with her district's eighthgrade scores, which ranked at 45 in reading, 38 in math, 45 in language and 39 in spelling.

"We want them all at 50 or above," she said. "But it takes time for those to move up."

Smith pointed out that improvements in most areas increased by 4 to 5 percentile points.

Lancaster School District students ranked among the bottom three in Valley school scores.

Its reading percentile scores ranged from 37 to 44; math, 37 to 50; language, 38 to 43; and spelling, 37 to 43.

Lancaster Superintendent Stephen Gocke said his district is going into a second year of a threeyear plan to increase test scores gradually.

Gocke said reading and math scores are starting to improve, but he admitted there still is a lot of work to do in the fifth and sixth grades.

Part of the problem, he said, is the mobility factor, but added district teachers and staff are working to overcome this.

Mobility involves students who move in and out of district during the school year.

"We are encouraged," he said. "We have seen some nice jumps, but not in every subject or grade area."

"I am not disappointed,`" Gocke said. "We have seen overall progress. We think we are moving in the right direction."

The Keppel Union School District reported scores in all grade levels below the 50th percentile.

Its reading scores ranged from 34 to 46; math, 34 to 48; language, 39 to 47; and spelling, 35 to 47 range.

Repeated phone calls to Keppel Superintendent Joseph Cox went unanswered.

In the Eastside School District, test results and rankings were among the worst in the Antelope Valley, although Superintendent Connie Webb pointed out scores are improving.

Eastside scores were in the 30 to 40 percentile range.

"We have shown some progress," Webb said, stating that the district has instituted programs - tutoring, intercessions classes, parent conferences and mandatory retention - for those not meeting their benchmarks as ways to stress improved grades and test scores.

Webb said she was disappointed in the "slippage"of fifth- and seventh-graders scores, but was pleased with the eight-grade scores in language and reading.

Eastside's eighth-graders averaged in the 53 percentile in language and 47 in reading.

"We have not met our expectation of goals," said Webb, explaining the immediate goal is to hit a 50th percentile ranking.

Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union Elementary School District had among the best scores in the Valley.

In math and language, the district scored above 70 for second and sixth grade. In 12 other areas, students were in the 60th percentile range.

Calls to Superintendent Robert Haley were not returned.

Uploaded July 18, 2000