Conejo Valley Unified School District students continue to produce good results on state tests, showing slight increases over last year in the 2009 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program.

“We’re always happy when we can maintain the high scores we have because it’s getting harder and harder to do it,” said Janet Cosaro, assistant superintendent, instructional services. “I’m very proud of the instructional growth we had, especially given the year we had last year.

“The teachers are amazing. It’s just amazing what our students continue to learn and how they continue to do well in times that could be very tough.”

In spring 2009, STAR testing was required for all students, including English tests for grades two through 11, math for grades two through nine, science for grades five, eight and 10 and history tests for grades eight and 11.

For each subject tested, students score in one of five levels of performance: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic or far below basic. The state has named the proficient level as the goal for all students.

Of the second through 11thgraders who took the Englishlanguage arts test, 73 percent scored in the proficient or advanced levels, up from 71 percent last year. And 75 percent of second through seventhgraders who took the math test scored at those high levels—the same percentage as last year.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell released the results in late August.

“I’m pleased and encouraged to see that for the seventh year in a row, California public school students continue to improve,” O’Connell said. “California is known nationally for the rigor of our academic standards, and this level of student achievement on our California Standards Tests should be celebrated. It’s the result of hard work by teachers, administrators, school support staff, students and parents,” he said.

CVUSD’s averages are significantly higher than those of California students overall.

O’Connell said he’s proud that half of California’s students are now proficient in Englishlanguage arts, especially considering that seven years ago, only 35 percent of students met that bar. And 46 percent of students are now at the proficient or above level in math.

“While we applaud these gains in student performance, we must continue to focus on students who struggle in the classroom and help them become skillful readers, able mathematicians, and selfconfident, well-prepared leaders of tomorrow,” O’Connell said.

“We must continue to push our education system to better serve all students. I remain committed to making changes at the state level to support the work being done at the school and district level to close the gap.”

Cosaro said they’re working with some of the students who are still struggling.

“We did pretty well overall with our subgroups, but with our English language learners and socioeconomically disadvantaged, there’s still a significant gap there,” Cosaro said.

The district has launched an English language development pilot for English learners at the elementary level. Cosaro said teachers were in last week looking at the pilot’s new materials, which were paid for with federal funds. Schools will also use a new diagnostic test that will give the district a “better prescriptive look” at English learners.

In CVUSD, at least 65 percent of students at every grade level reached the proficient or advanced levels in English or math.

High school students did particularly well in most sciences, with 70 percent scoring proficient or better in biology, 74 percent in chemistry, 72 percent in life science (10th-graders only) and 96 percent in physics (11thand 12th-graders only).

The state raises the percent of students who need to be proficient a bit each year, with the goal being 100 percent by 2014. This year, 46 percent of students needed to score proficient or higher in language arts and 46 percent in math. Next year, the targets jump to 56 percent, respectively, Cosaro said.

For the first time, STAR testing included the California Modified Assessment, which is designed for third- through fifth-graders with disabilities. The California Alternate Performance Assessment is also administered for students who have significant cognitive disabilities.

There is also a standardsbased test in Spanish for students who either received instruction in Spanish or were enrolled in a school in the United States for less than 12 months. These students also completed the grade-level STAR tests.

To view the STAR test results, visit star.cde.ca.gov.