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Local high school students
fare well in STAR testing
By Jason Baker
Students at both Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools scored well above national average in all areas of a recent statewide standardized test, reports from district officials showed.
Final calculations from the 1999 Standard Testing and Reporting program showed a range of 71 percent to 88 percent of all students tested at or above the 50th percentile compared to scores from students nationwide. In 1998, the range of students scoring at or above the 50th percentile was 78 percent to 91 percent.
The national percentile rank indicates the relative standing of a student in comparison with other students in the same grade who took the test at a comparable time. Percentile ranks ranged from a low of one to a high of 99, with 50 denoting average performance for that grade. Changes of less than 5 percent to 7 percent in either direction are usually not considered significant.
State legislators first implemented the STAR program in 1998. Each spring, Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District students from ninth to 11th grade are administered the test, which covers reading, mathematics, language, science and social science. The STAR test is the state's first achievement test to compare how well students in California perform against other students in the country. This spring marked the second year of testing.
By comparison, Saratoga High fared slightly better than Los Gatos High, based on a comparison of the percent range of scores at or above the 50th percentile. Scores showed that 78 percent to 90 percent of all SHS students tested at or above the 50th percentile, while 66 percent to 88 percent of LGHS students met or exceeded the 50th percentile mark.
Superintendent Cynthia Ranii said the solid scores reflect the dedication of Saratoga and Los Gatos communities to educational excellence. Reports showed reading and math scores for the district's 11th graders were among the top 10 among districts statewide.
"The scores represent an accumulation of many years of fine instruction and great support at home," Ranii said. "It makes me proud of the entire community and the partnership between parents and educators."
Ranii said administrators should be better able to track developing trends in test results following the tabulation of scores from the 2000 STAR test. "Right now, we are paying careful attention to individual results," she said. "We pay special attention to the small number of students who didn't do well and focus on making sure we work to maximize the potential of every student."
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
