4:15pm | Testing scores at public schools across Long Beach are improving after results of the California Standards Tests were released this week. In fact, test scores across California improved for the eighth consecutive year, according to the latest round of testing.
In the Long Beach Unified School District, 49.5-percent scored Advanced or Proficient in English while almost 46-percent of students met those goals in Math. According to the Press-Telegram‘s Kevin Butler [P-T], statistics across the state were a bit higher with 52-percent meeting that goal in English and 48-percent in Math.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said he was pleased with the scoring improvements, and that Latino students are closing the achievement gap, but noted that students of color are still trailing and must be helped.
“I remain concerned that we are not seeing similar narrowing trends among African American students and students of poverty,” O’Connell said in a press release. “We must continue to seek and implement strategies that can help accelerate gains toward proficiency needed to narrow this academic chasm.”
Local school officials are still waiting on results from year-round schools that have not been made available yet, but their reaction to the scores has still been very positive. LBUSD spokesperson Chris Eftychiou noted clear performance gains in almost all grade levels, particularly fifth graders who have achieved proficiency or advanced proficiency in Math and Science at a 38-percent and 39-percent improvement rate, respectively, compared to 2003 scores.
The latest results for 2010 show a continuation of that positive trend, which includes double-digit growth in proficiency and advanced proficiency,” said Eftychiou.
“These results are even more extraordinary considering that we’ve made significant cuts to our budget during seven of the last eight years, including $170 million in cuts during the past three years alone. Despite the worst economic downturn in decades, we’re still finding a way to get the job done.”
Check out the California Department of Education’s nifty little searching system to find test scores for any individual school in Long Beach [CDE].