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California Department of Education News Release
Release: #08-110
August 14, 2008
Contact: Pam Slater
E-mail: communications@cde.ca.gov
Phone: 916-319-0818

State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Releases 2008 STAR Program Results Showing California Students Continue to Improve

LOS ANGELES/SAN JOSE — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today released the results of the 2008 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program that show California students continue to make steady gains in English-language arts, math, science, and social science.

"California public school students are continuing to make solid, steady progress learning the skills and concepts necessary for success in school and in life. Since 2003, 532,494 more California students have become proficient in English-language arts and 415,129 more students have become proficient in math. While we still have a lot of work to do to reach our goal of universal proficiency, this year's gains are particularly encouraging considering they build upon five years of steady growth," O'Connell said.

"The results also show significant increases in science and social science. California has some of the highest standards in the nation, and I am exceptionally proud of the hard work and dedication of our students, teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, and parents that led to this achievement," he said.  

The STAR results may be found at: Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Results.

In the six years since all California Standards Tests (CSTs) were completely aligned to state standards, the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced increased by 11 points in English-language arts (ELA) or from 35 percent to 46 percent, (Table 1) and 8 points in math, from 35 percent to 43 percent (Table 5). The percentage of students scoring at the proficient and advanced levels on the fifth grade science test has increased by 22 points since 2004; the first year the test was given (Table 10).

The percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in grades two, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine have increased in ELA by double digits over the five-year span beginning in 2003 (Table 1).

The greatest improvement over the five-year period for math was made by students in grades three, four, five, six, and seven with the proficient and advanced percentage increasing by 15, 16, 16, 10, and 11 points, respectively (Table 5).

"While we celebrate the progress made by all subgroups of students over the last five years, we can not lose sight of the fact that more than half of our students, and too many students of color, are still not meeting our high standards," O'Connell said. "It is good news that all students continue to improve. It is imperative that we help those students who have historically struggled the most to accelerate their learning so they may effectively and fully participate in school, the workforce, and in society."

All student subgroup populations have continued to improve since 2003, and the gap in achievement between African Americans and whites and the gap in achievement between Hispanics or Latinos and whites narrowed slightly since last year. But, overall proficiency rates for Latino and African American students were significantly lower than those of white or Asian students. (Table 14 and Table 15).

Particularly concerning are results that continue to show African American and Latino students who are not economically disadvantaged score lower in math than white students who are economically disadvantaged. (Table 8 and Table 9). In English-language arts, non-poor African American students scored at the same level as white students who are poor. Latino students who are not poor scored slightly higher than white students who are poor. (Table 3 and Table 4).

"It is a moral and economic imperative that we close the achievement gap. California cannot afford to allow our Latino students and our African American students to continue to lag academically behind their peers," O'Connell said.

"While we must close the gap that exists between all subgroups, I am acutely concerned about our African American students. African American students as a whole scored in English-language arts just one point above Latino students, a subgroup that includes a significant number of English learners. This, coupled with an alarming dropout rate among African Americans, indicates a crisis in the education of black children," he said. "My statewide P-16 Council has made a series of recommendations aimed at closing the achievement gap and improving the way we provide education services to African American students. We must redouble our efforts to find and share effective strategies that will help African American students succeed."

Under the STAR program, California students attain one of five levels of performance on the CSTs for each subject tested: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic, and far below basic. The State Board of Education has established the proficient level as the desired achievement goal for all students. This goal is consistent with school growth targets for state accountability and the federal No Child Left Behind requirements. The state target is for all students to score at the proficient or advanced level.

This year also marked the debut of the California Modified Assessment (CMA). The CMA is designed for students in special education whose individualized education program (IEP) teams determined that the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) or the CSTs are not the appropriate assessments. Students taking the CMA typically make up approximately 2 percent of a school's population, although the percentages will vary from school to school. Please note that before any new test can be fully introduced into an assessment system, proficiency levels must be determined using the results of all tests taken. Therefore, the results for those students taking the CMA this year are not reflected in today's release as the performance levels have not been set. 

Approximately 4.75 million students participated in the 2008 STAR program, which is comprised of five components:

California Standards Tests (CSTs) are standards-based tests that measure the achievement of state content standards in English-language arts, mathematics, science, and history-social science.

California Modified Assessment (CMA) is for students whose IEP indicates assessment with the CMA (currently for grades three through five in ELA and Math and grade five in Science).

California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) is for students who have significant cognitive disabilities.

California Achievement Tests (CAT/6) are nationally norm-referenced tests, taken in grades three and seven only.

Aprenda: La prueba de logros en español, Tercera edición (Aprenda 3) is a nationally norm-referenced achievement test of general academic knowledge in Spanish for Spanish-speaking English learners (for grades five through eleven in 2008).

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# # # #

Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program:

Summary of 2008 Results
Background
  • The 2008 STAR Program consists of six key components, including the California Standards Tests (CSTs); the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA); and the California Modified Assessment (CMA) for grades three, four, and five. This year the CMA was administered operationally for the first time. The CMA and the other three components—the California Achievement Tests, Sixth Edition (CAT/6 Survey); the Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS); and the Aprenda: La prueba de logros en espanol, Tercera edition (Aprenda 3)—are not reported in this summary.
  • In spring 2008, the following CSTs were required for all students:
  • English–language arts (ELA) for grades two through eleven.
  • Mathematics for grades two through nine.
  • Science for grades five, eight, and ten (life science).
  • History–social science for grades eight and eleven (U.S. history).
  • Students were also able to take end-of-course tests in mathematics, science, and history–social science in grades nine through eleven if they were enrolled in the corresponding courses.
  • Students who had an individualized education program and met the other requirements were eligible to take the CMA in ELA and mathematics in grades three through five and the CMA in science in grade five instead of the corresponding grade-level and content-area CSTs.
  • Students who were unable to take the CSTs with accommodations or modifications or were unable to take the CMA with accommodations took the CAPA in ELA, mathematics, and science.
Reporting STAR Program Results
  • Five performance levels are used for reporting the CST and CAPA results: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic, and, far-below basic. The state target is for all students to score at the proficient level or above (advanced). The percentages of students scoring at each performance level are reported by grade and subject for all students and for student subgroups.
  • Because the CMA is in the standard-setting process, the proficiency levels for this assessment have not yet been assigned. Student reports, therefore, will show raw scores (percentage correct) for this year’s CMA results.

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Summary of CST Results

A summary of statewide student performance on the CSTs follows, organized by content area. (CAPA results are included in the ELA and mathematics subgroup Tables 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9.) Note that while final data for the years 2003 through 2007 are available, the results reported for 2008 are preliminary and include only the results for students who tested through June 30, 2008.

English–Language Arts
  • The percentage of students in grades two through eleven scoring at the proficient level and above increased approximately 11 percentage points between 2003 and 2008. The one-year increase in 2008 was 3 percentage points (Table 1).
  • Notably, since 2003, the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level
    and above in ELA in grade four increased by 16 percentage points; in grade eight by 14 percentage points; and in grade seven by 13 percentage points. In 2008, grade six showed the greatest one-year increase of 5 percentage points (Table 1).
  • While all student subgroups have continued to improve since 2003, the gap in achievement between African Americans and whites remains unchanged. (Table 2 and Table 15) However, the gap in achievement between Hispanics and whites has improved by 1 percentage point. (Table 2 and Table 14).
  • The subgroups by ethnicity showing the greatest improvement since 2003 in achieving the proficient level and above were Asian and Filipino students, who showed an increase of 14 percentage points. Hispanic or Latino and Pacific Islander student subgroups increased their achievement of the proficient level and above by 12 percentage points. African American and white student subgroups increased their achievement of the proficient level and above by
    11 percentage points. American Indian or Alaskan Native student subgroup increased its achievement of the proficient level and above by 9 percentage points (Table 2).
  • The results displayed in Tables 3 and 4 show that the performance of African American and Hispanic or Latino students continues to lag behind that of white students, regardless of economic status. For 2008, the percentage of not economically disadvantaged African Americans (43 percent) and the percentage of not economically disadvantaged Hispanics or Latinos (45 percent) achieving the proficient level and above are equal to or slightly above the percentage of economically disadvantaged whites (43 percent) achieving the proficient level and above.
Mathematics
  • In 2008, the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level and above in mathematics showed an overall increase of approximately 8 percentage points from 2003. From 2007 to 2008, the overall percentage of students scoring at the proficient level and above increased by 2 percentage points (Table 5).
  • From 2007 to 2008, the majority of grade-level and end-of-course results showed an increase in the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level and above. The results for grade two mathematics, geometry, Algebra II, and summative high school mathematics showed no increase (Table 5).
  • Between 2003 and 2008, the increase in the percentage of students in grades three through seven achieving the proficient level and above were as follows: grade three, 15 percentage points; grade four, 16 percentage points; grade five, 16 percentage points; grade six, 10 percentage points; and grade seven, 11 percentage points (Table 5).
  • The largest increase from 2007 to 2008 was 6 percentage points in General Mathematics, improving from 21 percent to 27 percent of students achieving the proficient level and above. The second largest increase was 5 percentage points in grade four mathematics, improving from 56 percent to 61 percent of students achieving the proficient level and above (Table 5).
  • Since 2003, 241,461 more students have taken the Algebra 1 exam. (Table 6). However, between 2007 and 2008, the number of students who took the Algebra 1 exam increased by only 2,530 students, a marked decline from prior years (Table 6).
  • An increase of 2,530 students taking the Algebra I test was shown between 2007 and 2008, significantly smaller than the increases in students tested in previous years (Table 6).
  • There was a decrease of 19,112 students taking the General Mathematics test. (Table 6).This decrease occurred for test takers in both grade eight (9,535 fewer) and grade nine (9,577 fewer).
  • The gap in achievement between Hispanic or Latino and white students decreased by 3 percentage points from 2003 to 2008 (Table 7 and Table 14).The gap between African American students and white students declined by 2 percentage points (Table 7 and Table 15).
  • The results displayed in Tables 8 and 9 show that the performance of African American and Hispanic or Latino students continues to lag behind that of white students, regardless of economic status. For 2008, the percentage of not economically disadvantaged African Americans (33 percent) and the percentage of not economically disadvantaged Hispanics or Latinos (38 percent) achieving the proficient level and above are less than the percentage of economically disadvantaged whites (40 percent) achieving the proficient level and above.
  • In 2007, for the first time, seventh graders were allowed to participate in the Algebra 1 assessment if enrolled in an Algebra 1 course. In 2008, these students continued to exhibit high performance, 80 percent proficient and above (Table 16).

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Science
  • The greatest gains in science were seen in the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level and above on the grade five and grade eight science assessments. The percentage in grade five increased by 9 percentage points from 2007 to 2008 and by 22 percentage points between 2004 and 2008. The percentage in grade eight increased by 10 percentage points from 2007 to 2008 (Table 10).
  • The percentage of students scoring at the proficient and advanced levels on the grade ten science test increased by 5 percentage points from 2007 to 2008 (Table 10).
  • The science end-of-course tests had an overall increase in students achieving at the proficient level and above of 4 percentage points since last year and an increase of 6 percentage points since the exams were first administered in 2003 (Table 11).
  • In 2008, gains were achieved in all end-of-course tests: physics, 8 percentage points; earth science, 3 percentage points; biology, 5 percentage points; chemistry, 1 percentage point; Integrated 1, 1 percentage point; and Integrated 2, 4 percentage points (Table 11).
  • In 2008, approximately 1.1 million students in grades nine through eleven took the science end-of-course tests. Since 2003, the number of students taking the end-of-course biology test has increased by 191,048 (Table 12).
History–Social Science
  • Students who scored at the proficient level and above on the grade eight history–social science test increased by 9 percentage points between 2003 and 2008 (Table 13).
  • The percentage of students in grades nine, ten, and eleven who achieved the proficient level or above on the end-of-course world history test increased by
    6 percentage points between 2003 and 2008. Students who achieved the proficient level and above on the grade eleven test (U.S. History) showed an increase of 4 percentage points between 2003 and 2008 (Table 13).
  • The largest single-year increase from 2007 to 2008 was for world history, which increased by 4 percentage points, from 29 to 33, for students achieving the proficient level and above (Table 13).

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Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
Program California Standards Test Results, 2003-2008

English–Language Arts
Table 1: Percentages of Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*

Grade

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage
2007–2008

Change in Percentage
2003–2008

2

36

35

42

47

48

48

0

12

3

33

30

31

36

37

38

1

5

4

39

39

47

49

51

55

4

16

5

36

40

43

43

44

48

4

12

6

36

36

38

41

42

47

5

11

7

36

36

43

43

46

49

3

13

8

31

33

39

41

41

45

4

14

9

38

37

43

43

47

49

2

11

10

33

35

36

37

37

41

4

8

11

32

32

36

36

37

37

0

5

State Total 2 - 11

35

35

40

42

43

46

3

11

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in grades two through eleven. Complete results will be available during September 2008. Percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports due to rounding.

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California Standards Test and California Alternate Performance Assessment Results, 2003-2008

English–Language Arts
Table 2: Percentages of Students Scoring at Proficient and Above by Subgroup*

Subgroup

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

All Students

35

36

40

42

44

46

2

11

Female

39

40

44

46

48

50

2

11

Male

31

32

36

38

40

42

2

11

African American or Black

22

23

27

29

31

33

2

11

American Indian or Alaskan Native

31

31

36

37

39

40

1

9

Asian

55

57

61

64

66

69

3

14

Filipino

48

50

55

58

60

62

2

14

Hispanic or Latino

20

21

25

27

29

32

3

12

Pacific Islander

31

31

36

39

41

43

2

12

White

53

54

58

60

62

64

2

11

Economically Disadvantaged

20

21

25

27

29

32

3

12

Not Economically Disadvantaged

49

50

57

58

60

62

2

13

Students Received Special Education Services

9

14

16

17

18

20

2

11

Students with no Reported Disability

38

38

43

45

46

49

3

11

English Only Students

44

44

49

51

52

54

2

10

Initially-Fluent English Proficient (I-FEP)

46

48

53

56

58

62

4

16

Reclassified-Fluent English Proficient (R-FEP)

40

42

48

50

51

55

4

15

English Learners

10

10

12

14

15

17

2

7

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in grades two through eleven. Complete results will be available during September 2008. This table includes results from the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), and the percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports.

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English–Language Arts

Table 3: Percentages of Economically Disadvantaged Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*

Ethnicity

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

African American or Black

16

17

21

23

24

27

3

11

American Indian or Alaskan Native

20

21

26

27

29

31

2

11

Asian

35

37

42

46

48

51

3

16

Filipino

37

39

45

48

49

52

3

15

Hispanic or Latino

16

17

21

24

26

29

3

13

Pacific Islander

21

21

26

29

30

32

2

11

White

32

32

37

39

41

43

2

11

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in grades two through eleven. Complete results will be available during September 2008. These tables include results from the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), and the percentages included in these tables may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports.

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Table 4: Percentages of Not Economically Disadvantaged Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*

Ethnicity

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

African American or Black

31

32

36

38

40

43

3

12

American Indian or Alaskan Native

41

41

46

48

49

51

2

10

Asian

69

70

74

76

77

79

2

10

Filipino

53

55

60

62

64

67

3

14

Hispanic or Latino

32

33

38

40

42

45

3

13

Pacific Islander

40

40

45

48

50

53

3

13

White

58

59

64

66

67

69

2

11

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in grades two through eleven. Complete results will be available during September 2008. These tables include results from the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), and the percentages included in these tables may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports.

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California Standards Test Results, 2003-2008

Mathematics
Table 5: Percentages of Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*

Grade

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage
2007–2008

Change in Percentage
2003–2008

Grade 2

53

51

56

58

59

59

0

6

Grade 3

46

48

54

57

58

61

3

15

Grade 4

45

45

50

54

56

61

5

16

Grade 5

35

38

44

48

49

51

2

16

Grade 6

34

35

40

42

42

44

2

10

Grade 7

30

33

37

41

39

41

2

11

General Mathematics

20

20

22

22

21

27

6

7

Algebra I†

21

18

19

23

24

25

1

4

First time test takers

 

 

 

 

26

28

2

 

Repeat test takers

 

 

 

 

15

17

2

 

Geometry

26

24

26

26

24

24

0

-2

Algebra II

29

24

26

25

27

27

0

-2

Summative High School Math

43

41

45

46

47

47

0

4

Integrated 1

7

7

7

9

9

11

2

4

State Total Grades 2 - 7 and End-of-Course tests

35

34

38

41

41

43

2

8

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the states. Complete results will be available during September 2008. Percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports due to rounding.

†Prior to 2007, algebra I was an end-of-course test for grades eight through eleven students. In 2007 and 2008, students in grades seven were allowed to take the algebra I test.

Note: The results for integrated 2 and 3 are not reported due to the small numbers of test-takers.

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Mathematics
Table 6: Numbers of Students Tested*

Test

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Number
2007-2008

Change in Number
2003-2008

General Mathematics

451,126

417,946

374,900

340,335

307,656

288,544

-19,112

-162,582

Algebra I

505,883

614,347

681,924

707,285

744,814

747,344

2,530

241,461

Geometry

270,560

301,112

333,334

359,926

371,118

383,703

12,585

113,143

Algebra II

162,672

181,883

196,079

213,770

231,335

239,545

8,210

76,873

Sum. High School Math

76,560

80,574

90,983

99,348

108,972

116,040

7,068

39,480

Integrated 1

14,359

9,679

8,716

6,771

7,071

8,879

1,808

-5,480

Integrated 2

9,733

7,905

6,698

4,273

3,647

4,306

659

-5,427

Integrated 3

10,043

4,424

3,558

2,223

1,661

1,488

-173

-8,555

Total

1,500,936

1,617,870

1,696,192

1,733,931

1,776,274

1,789,849

13,575

288,913

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the state. Complete results will be available during September 2008. Percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports due to rounding.

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California Standards Test and California Alternate Performance Assessment Results, 2003-2008

Mathematics
Table 7: Percentages of Students Scoring at Proficient and Above by Subgroup*

Subgroup

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

All Students

35

34

38

41

41

43

2

8

Female

34

34

38

40

40

42

2

8

Male

35

35

39

41

41

44

3

9

African American or Black

19

19

23

25

25

28

3

9

American Indian or Alaskan Native

29

28

32

34

34

36

2

7

Asian

60

60

64

67

67

69

2

9

Filipino

44

45

50

53

53

55

2

11

Hispanic or Latino

23

23

27

30

30

33

3

10

Pacific Islander

31

31

35

38

38

40

2

9

White

47

46

51

53

53

54

1

7

Economically Disadvantaged

24

25

29

31

31

33

2

9

Not Economically Disadvantaged

45

44

49

52

52

54

2

9

Students Received Special Education Services

13

16

18

20

20

23

3

10

Students with no Reported Disability

37

36

41

43

43

45

2

8

English Only Students

39

39

43

45

45

47

2

8

Initially-Fluent English Proficient (I-FEP)

45

45

49

52

53

55

2

10

Reclassified-Fluent English Proficient
(R-FEP)

37

37

41

43

42

45

3

8

English Learners

20

20

24

26

26

29

3

9

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the state. Complete results will be available during September 2008. This table includes results from the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), and the percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports.

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Mathematics
Table 8: Percentages of Economically Disadvantaged Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*

Ethnicity

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

African American or Black

16

16

20

22

22

24

2

8

American Indian or Alaskan Native

23

23

27

29

28

30

2

7

Asian

45

46

51

53

54

56

2

11

Filipino

40

41

46

49

48

50

2

10

Hispanic or Latino

21

22

26

28

29

31

2

10

Pacific Islander

25

25

30

32

33

34

1

9

White

33

32

37

38

38

40

2

7

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the state. Complete results will be available during September 2008. These tables include results from the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), and the percentages included in these tables may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports.

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Table 9: Percentages of Not Economically Disadvantaged Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*

Ethnicity

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in percentage 2003-2008

African American or Black

24

24

27

30

31

33

2

9

American Indian or Alaskan Native

35

34

38

40

40

42

2

7

Asian

71

70

73

76

76

77

1

6

Filipino

46

46

52

55

55

58

3

12

Hispanic or Latino

29

29

33

36

36

38

2

9

Pacific Islander

37

36

40

43

44

46

2

9

White

51

50

54

57

56

58

2

7

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the state. Complete results will be available during September 2008. These tables include results from the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), and the percentages included in these tables may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports.

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California Standards Test Results, 2004-2008

Science—Grade Level Tests
Table 10: Percentages of Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*†

Grade

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage
2007-2008

Change in Percentage
2004-2008

5

24

28

32

37

46

9

22

8

NA

NA

38

42

52

10

NA

10

NA

NA

34

35

40

5

NA

State Total 5, 8, & 10

NA

NA

35

38

46

8

NA

*The Grade Five California Science Standards Test was first administered in spring 2004. The Grade Eight California Science Standards and the Grade Ten California Life Science Standards Tests were first administered during spring 2006.

†Data for 2004 through 2007 are final statewide data. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the state. Complete results will be available during September 2008. Percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports due to rounding.

Science—End-of-Course Tests (Grades Nine Through Eleven)
Table 11: Percentages of Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*

Test

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage
2007-2008

Change in Percentage
2003-2008

Earth Science

21

22

23

23

26

29

3

8

Biology

37

30

32

35

37

42

5

5

Chemistry

31

28

27

27

31

32

1

1

Physics

29

29

31

32

35

43

8

14

Integrated 1

7

5

8

9

10

11

1

4

Integrated 2

8

8

6

5

7

11

4

3

State Total for End-of-Course Tests

29

24

27

28

31

35

4

6

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the state. Complete results will be available during September 2008. Percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports due to rounding.

Note: The results for integrated 3 and 4 are not reported due to the small numbers of test-takers

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Science—End-of-Course (Grades Nine Through Eleven)
Table 12: Numbers of Students Tested*

Test

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Number
2007-2008

Change in Number
2003-2008

Earth Science

89,676

134,953

173,958

195,394

207,246

224,532

17,286

134,856

Biology

334,005

397,909

453,685

498,204

507,155

525,053

17,898

191,048

Chemistry

153,491

181,420

196,700

213,387

227,866

232,439

4,573

78,948

Physics

44,878

52,586

59,382

61,088

63,450

64,180

730

19,302

Integrated 1

62,008

101,824

111,366

107,068

96,818

75,998

-20,820

13,990

Integrated 2

25,983

24,654

20,629

17,407

13,822

7,790

-6,032

-18,193

Integrated 3

10,621

5,870

3,414

2,540

2,006

1,963

-43

-8,658

Integrated 4

1,515

1,601

1,040

817

960

431

-529

-1,084

Total

722,177

900,817

1,020,174

1,095,905

1,119,323

1,132,386

13,063

410,209

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the state. Complete results will be available during September 2008. Percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports due to rounding.

History–Social Science
Table 13: Percentages of Students Scoring at Proficient and Above*

Grade

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage
2007-2008

Change in Percentage
2003-2008

8

27

27

31

34

35

36

1

9

11 (U.S. History)

34

32

37

35

35

38

3

4

World History (End-of-Course)†

27

27

31

30

29

33

4

6

State Total 8, 11 Plus End-of-Course Test

29

28

33

33

33

37

4

8

*Data for 2003 through 2007 are final statewide results. The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in the state. Complete results will be available during September 2008. Percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet reports due to rounding.  

†Prior to 2007, the world history test was an end-of-course test for grade ten students only. Starting in 2007, students in grades nine through eleven took the end-of-course world history.

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Table 14: Achievement Gap of Hispanic or Latino Students to White Students

% Proficient & Above for ELA

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

Hispanic or Latino

20

21

25

27

29

32

3

12

White

53

54

58

60

62

64

2

11

Gap

33

33

33

33

33

32

-1

-1

 

% Proficient & Above for Math

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

Hispanic or Latino

23

23

27

30

30

33

3

10

White

47

46

51

53

53

54

1

7

Gap

24

23

24

23

23

21

-2

-3

Table 15: Achievement Gap of African American Students to White Students

% Proficient & Above for ELA

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

African American

22

23

27

29

31

33

2

11

White

53

54

58

60

62

64

2

11

Gap

31

31

31

31

31

31

0

0

 

% Proficient & Above for Math

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Change in Percentage 2007-2008

Change in Percentage 2003-2008

African American

19

19

23

25

25

28

3

9

White

47

46

51

53

53

54

1

7

Gap

28

27

28

28

28

26

-2

-2

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2008 Algebra I Test Results
Table 16: 2008 Algebra I Results by Grade*

Grade

# Test Takers

# Proficient & Above

% Proficient & Above

7

25,573

20,369

80

8

246,587

102,791

42

9

272,353

49,154

18

10

131,415

10,976

8

11

66,108

3,586

5

State Total 7-11

742,036

186,876

25

Table 17: 2008 Algebra I Results for First-time Examinees*

Grade

# Test Takers

# Proficient & Above

% Proficient & Above

7

25,573

20,369

80

8

242,062

99,560

41

9

167,819

22,948

14

10

62,834

4,999

8

11

31,901

2,128

7

State Total 7 - 11

530,189

150,004

28

Table 18: 2008 Algebra I Results for Examinees Repeating the Assessment*

Grade

# Test Takers

# Proficient & Above

% Proficient & Above

8

4,525

3,231

71

9

104,534

26,206

25

10

68,581

5,977

9

11

34,207

1,458

4

State Total 8 - 11

211,487

36,872

17

*The 2008 data are preliminary and include results for approximately 99% of the students in grades two through eleven. Complete results will be available during September 2008. The numbers reported are based on the matched data. Therefore, percentages included in this table may differ from the percentages printed on the Internet.

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# # # #


Jack O'Connell — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

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