Laguna students second in county in Common Core test results

Laguna Beach Unified School District students’ combined performance on new online state standardized tests in math and English/language arts was second only to Irvine Unified when compared with other Orange County districts, according to the California Department of Education results released Wednesday.

Last spring, public school students in grades 3 through 8 and 11, took exams that measured their ability to analyze problems, think independently and write clearly using evidence, the principles of the new Common Core standards.

Education officials consider the tests, called the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, more rigorous than the previous Standardized Testing and Reporting program, known as STAR.

In Laguna Beach, 71% of students who took the tests, or 1,691, met or exceeded state standards in math (66%) and English (76%), trailing only Irvine Unified, where 75% of its students reached those marks (77% in English and 74% in math).

Of 296,000 county students who took the tests, 49% met or exceeded state standards in English and math.

In English, Laguna had the highest percentage of students countywide who met or exceeded standards in third, fourth, fifth and 11th grades.

Eighty-four % of fifth-grade test takers at El Morro and Top of the World elementary schools and 83% of 11th grade students at Laguna Beach High School met or exceeded state standards in English.

“We did very well,” Amy Kernan, Laguna Beach Unified’s assessment, accountability and project coordinator, wrote in an email.

Because 2015 is the first year of the new tests and because they are substantially different from their predecessors, the results are a baseline from which to measure future scores and should not be compared to results from the state’s previous assessments, according to the state education department’s website.

Tests consisted of two parts.

The first part was an adaptive test taken on a computer that gave different follow-up questions based on a student’s answers, providing a more refined picture of the person’s abilities. The second section challenged students to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems. The two parts measure depth of understanding, writing, research and problem-solving skills.

In contrast, STAR was a multiple-choice, paper-based test that allowed students to more easily guess correct answers.

With the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, students’ scores fall into one of four achievement levels: standard exceeded, standard met, standard nearly met and standard not met.

Statewide in all grades, 44% of students met or exceeded the English standard, and 33% met or exceeded the math standard.

Though Kernan was pleased with Laguna’s results, she said work remains to be done.

“Our math scores are not yet where we want them, but they are definitely moving in the right direction,” she said. “I expect to see even greater growth with the implementation of the new K-12 [curriculum] and the new standards and strategies being used in all grade levels in the coming years.”

Individual student score reports will be mailed to parents by early October. The reports contain an overall score for each subject as well as information about performance in different skill areas associated with English and math.