School Board Meeting Wrap-Up

The following is from the Aug. 24 meeting of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education.

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District announces STAR results

Asst. Supt. of Instructional Services Nancy Hubbell presented the board with results for the 2010 Standardized Testing and Reporting Program for the district.

She announced that a five-year analysis of students scoring proficient and above indicates a solid trend of improvement across grade levels and content areas, including increases in the number of students who scored “advanced.”

Across content areas, the results represent increases from 10 to 20 percentage points over the last five years, she said, which the LBUSD staff attributes to effective teacher collaboration in Professional Learning Communities to improve instruction and to implement effective interventions.

New Supt. Sherine Smith applauded the accomplishments of both students and staff.

“We are proud of the achievement of our students. We are an outstanding school district by any measure. Our test results reflect the hard work, dedication and effort of our students and teachers, supported by our families and community. We look forward to continued growth this year,” she said.

Scores included:

•83% of El Morro Elementary students scored proficient or above in math, with 52% of those scoring “advanced”;

•80% of students at Top of the World Elementary scored proficient or above in English/Language Arts, with 50% of those scoring “advanced”;

•82% of Thurston Middle School students scored proficient or above in science, with 67% of those scoring “advanced”;

•80% of Laguna Beach High students scored proficient or above in world history, with 59% of those scoring advanced.

Authorized by law in 1997, the California STAR Program is composed of achievement tests administered annually to California public schools students in grades 2 to 11. The two main objectives of the program are to test student progress toward achievement of the California content standards and to compare and measure California student achievement with students across the country.