Surf City students’ STAR scores soar

Andrew Edwards

Students in Surf City schools outperformed many of their counterparts

across the state and county in standardized tests administered in the

spring. They also made great strides since 2003, according to reports

released Monday.

More Huntington Beach High School students also passed the 2004

California High School Exit Examination’s math and English language

arts sections than the year before. This year, 89% of the students

passed the math portion and 88% passed the English portion, up

significantly from 66% and 81% in 2003.

On the Standardized Testing and Reporting program, students in

Huntington Beach’s three school districts showed strong improvement

overall, with some grades’ scores falling slightly.

The state scores the standardized tests on a five-level system.

Advanced is the highest level, followed by proficient, basic, below

basic and far below basic. Students must achieve proficient or

advanced levels to meet the state’s goals.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires all students to

score proficient or above by 2014.

In both the Huntington Beach City and Ocean View school districts,

more students, in all grade levels, were classified as proficient or

advanced in English, basic math, Algebra 1, history and science than

other children across the state and county.

Student scores also improved upon last year’s scores, though the

percentage of advanced or proficient students in Algebra 1 declined

in both districts.

In the city school district, all but two grades, third and

seventh, earned higher English scores in 2004. All but the second and

seventh grades improved upon their math scores.

In the Ocean View School District, more elementary school students

in all grades met state targets for math, though fewer middle school

students met state goals in the subject. One of the bigger gains was

in third-grade, where 61% of children hit the target, up seven points

from 2003. English scores went up in the second, fourth and fifth

grades.

Students did well in the Ocean View district because teachers

dovetail their lessons with standards laid out by the state, said

Karen Colby, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum

and instruction.

“The teachers basically are following the state blueprint,” she

said.

In both districts, the percentage of third-graders with high

scores in English dropped, while fifth-graders showed strong

improvements in math and English.

The declines in third and fifth grades seemed to be a pattern

throughout the state, though it is too early for educators to know if

the reasons for the apparent pattern can be found in the classroom or

in the test itself, said Lynn Bogart, assistant superintendent for

curriculum and instruction for the Huntington Beach City School

District.

“If everybody in the state has that same trend, they start looking

at the test,” she said.

Third-graders in Bogart’s district also studied in larger class

sizes last school year.

“This is the first year that we didn’t have class-size reduction

in the third-grade,” she said.

Students in the Huntington Beach Union High School District also

did well compared to teenagers in other areas. In Algebra 2, world

history and United States history, a greater percentage of students

in all grades met state targets than in the state and county as a

whole.

The latest round of tests was the first time science scores were

officially counted, said Connie Mayhugh, the district’s curriculum

director. Part of the drop in scores could be the result of teachers

readjusting science classes to the new tests, she said.

Students at all four high schools in Surf City passed the exit

exam at higher rates than the state as a whole, and all four schools

improved upon the previous year. One of the bigger jumps was at

Edison High School, where 96% of students passed the math portion of

the exam, up from 74% in 2003. At Ocean View High School, 84% of

students passed the math section, up from 52% last year. The

10th-graders who took the test last spring needed a passing score to

get their diplomas in 2006.

“It’s really one of those few tests that affect all kids and they

really put their effort into it,” Mayhugh said.