STAR Results Rise Across District, Tam High

Students throughout Mill Valley remain well ahead of state and federal education goals, according to Monday's release of the 2009 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) results by the California Department of Education.

The vast majority of students at all five local elementary schools are at or above proficiency in language arts, math and science, with more than 80 percent of students scoring at or above a proficient level, with few exceptions.

Mill Valley Middle School recorded its best year since STAR testing was implemented in 1998, improving in every category except for science, which was the lone blemish at most local schools. While science scores remained very high compared to the rest of the county and the state, the percentage of students are at or above proficiency in science went down from 2008 to 2009 at every school but Tam Valley Elementary.

Across the Mill Valley School District, which includes Edna Maguire, Old Mill, Park, Strawberry Point and Tam Valley elementary schools, 73 percent of students are at or above proficiency in math and 85 percent in language arts.

"We're very proud that the middle school did as well as it did," said district Superintendent Ken Benny. "And because they did so well, all of our schools get to take credit for that, because these kids have come from our elementary schools. It's a district celebration."

At Tam High, students registered significant improvements in several categories, particularly history, as 79 percent of students were at or above proficiency, up from 69 percent in 2008. Math remained a concern at Tam High, as only 43 percent of students scored at or above a proficient level, up from 42 percent in 2008.

"We're always looking at how can we get even better in realizing our potential," said Elizabeth Kaufman, assistant superintendent of student services at Tamalpais Union School District.

STAR tests were administered when each school completed 85 percent of its instructional year, according to state officials. State and federal goals from the No Child Left Behind program aim to have all students at or above a proficient level in basic language arts and math tests by 2014.

Depending on their classes, students take a test in general math, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry or a comprehensive test at the end of their high school career. In both the math and language arts tests (as well as in subject science and social studies tests) students are scored as advanced, proficient, basic, below basic or far below basic.

California, in its goal to achieve 100 percent proficiency by 2014, has implemented yearly goals that schools must meet. For 2009-10, the state goal is to have 58 percent of elementary students proficient or advanced in math and 54.8 percent of high school students proficient or advanced in math. In language arts, the state goal is to have 56.8 percent proficiency at the elementary and middle school levels and 55.6 percent at the high school level.

However, with just 52 percent (up from 50 percent last year) of all students in the state proficient in language arts and 48 percent (up from 46 percent last year) in math, California failed to meet these goals.

Schools that fail to meet these goal targets in the student population as a whole or in certain ethnic and socio-economic subgroups are deemed "program improvement" schools. After five years as a program improvement school, the state may implement certain sanctions ranging from a mere increase in funding to total closure of the school.

The annual STAR tests serve as a measure of student progress towards these targets, as well as reports for parents on their student's academic proficiency. Individual student results are sent home to parents over the summer; individual student results are not available at the school or state level and in no way follow a student. The results are made anonymous and non-trackable at the aggregate level.

School results are used to determine a school's Academic Performance Index (API) – a measure of its performance from year to year. In addition to STAR results, for high schools the API takes into account graduation rates and performance on the California High School Exit Exam. Along with certain yearly goal targets, schools must meet API and graduation targets.

The push to make 100 percent of students proficient, particularly in all racial and economic subgroups, was a key feature of the No Child Left Behind Act. When No Child Left Behind is renewed later this year it is expected some of the targets and standards will change.

Marin students, on a whole, performed far better than the state averages. Mill Valley School District students largely out-performed countywide averages. In the county, 71.3 percent of students were proficient or advanced in language arts and 64.5 percent in math. In the Mill Valley district, 85.3 percent of students were proficient or advanced in language arts and 86.6 percent of students were proficient or advanced in math.

Benny emphasized that while the STAR results were an important measure of student achievement, they were part of a larger assessment system that included evaluations at the classroom, school and district levels.

"We consider ourselves fortunate and we also think we're doing the right things that result in continuous improvement on the [California Standards Test]," Benny said.

Click here for the full results.