The first round of scores from the soon-to-be-implemented high school exit exam shows great promise for high school students in Sunnyvale and Cupertino. But with little history behind the exam, the change is minimal. The recently released results of the standardized STAR tests, which have been administered since 1999, show very little change for students throughout the state, where most scores showed mixed results. Little change equals little progress.

"This is not where we want to be. This is not where we hoped we would be," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "But the trend of student achievement over the last several years remains positive, and I am convinced that we have the appropriate framework in place to continue our record level of improvement. These scores should be viewed as a wake-up call for us all."

The STAR tests are composed of the California Standards Test (CST) and the California Achievement Tests (CAT/6 Survey). CAT/6 measures student achievement against a national standard, while the CST tests are assessed on five levels of performance—advanced, proficient, basic, below basic and far below basic. The state board of education has targeted the "proficient" designation as the desired benchmark for student performance.

In the Cupertino Union School District, overall results improved over last year's scores, though just slightly. In the English language arts, the greatest improvement was among eighth-graders, who scored in the advanced and proficient categories at levels six percentage points higher than their counterparts the year before. The only grade level that lost percentage points was the third grade, where students' scores in the 2003­04 school year dropped three percentage points.

In mathematics, the percentage of advanced and proficient scores either improved or stayed the same. Fifth-grade results rose four percentage points, while scores in the second, third, sixth and seventh grades remained static from the year before.

Scores were just as varied among the high schools in the Fremont Union High School District. For instance, at Cupertino High School, 66 percent of 10th graders scored at proficient or advanced in English language arts, a nine-point improvement over the previous year's scores in that grade. But 75 percent of 11th graders crossed that same threshold in summative mathematics, a six-point drop.

While Fremont Union's STAR test results were fairly mixed, the results of the California High School Exit Exam provided a much brighter picture. The exam, which is not yet a requirement for high school graduation, was administered to 10th-graders both in math and English language arts last spring.

Statewide, 75 percent of students passed the English language arts segment, while 74 percent passed the math. In Santa Clara County, those numbers rose to 81 percent passing English language arts and 82 percent passing math.

The numbers posted by the class of 2006 in Fremont Union schools showed significant improvements upon both sets of data. In the district, 91 percent of students passed the English language arts portion and 93 percent passed the math. But Dr. Steve Rowley, superintendent for the district, is concerned with raising passing rates among groups such as the socioeconomically disadvantaged, which passed the math portion at a rate of 59 percent and the English language portion at 60 percent.

"Our school sites and district staff are developing and sharing specific strategies to assist students who need help passing the test, such as our English language learners and some special-education students who are included in the state testing program," said Rowley.

Monta Vista High School students posted the best results in the district, with 98 percent passing language arts and 99 percent passing math. Following closely was Lynbrook, which showed 95 percent of students passing language arts and 98 percent passing math.

Rounding out the district were Cupertino High, where 91 percent passed language arts and 97 percent passed math; Homestead High, where 92 percent passed language arts and 94 percent passed math; and Fremont High, where 79 percent passed language arts and 80 percent passed math.

Due to changes in the exit exam from last year, comparisons between results from different school years can't be made.