LCUSD students earn well-above-average marks on Common Core-focused exams
La Cañada Unified students earned top marks in CommonCore-focused standardized tests administered last spring, according to results issued by the state Wednesday, outperforming most other school districts and even improving upon last year’s stellar scores.
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CASSPP) test results released Wednesday by the state Department of Education indicate 88% of LCUSD students met or exceeded state standards in English Language Arts, while 84% met or exceeded the math benchmark.
Those figures are up slightly from last year, which placed 85% of La Cañada students at or above the English standard and 82% in math. But this year’s results place La Cañada Unified students well above the state average of 49% proficiency in English and 37% in math.
But while the numeric news is good, mere test results alone are no longer considered the end-all-be-all of students’ true academic capabilities in the new age of Common Core standards.
Although the state has not yet fully conceived how it will provide true measure of a school or district’s performance, educators do know it will involve several different factors, Lindi Dreibelbis, the district’s chief director of assessment, said Tuesday.
“While test scores are still very important, the new system will be very, very different,” Dreibelbis said. “We expect it to be a multimeasure system including a variety of things, such as graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, suspension rates (and) parent involvement.”
Understanding that — when the district has for years relied on exemplary test scores, in the form of the state-designated Academic Performance Index (API) to bolster its academic reputation — may be a steep learning curve for the LCUSD school community, Dreibelbis acknowledged.
Still, educators are busy breaking down the numbers to tell a story of progress and where improvements may still be made.
During the assessment period, nearly 2,200 La Cañada Unified students in grades 3 through 8, as well as high school juniors, were tested in English and math. The online tests were designed to be interactive and to delve more deeply into problems and questions to determine a student’s thought process and understanding of concepts.
In addition to showing school and grade level test scores and proficiency, available online at caaspp.cde.ca.gov, the results are more fine-tuned than in years past, showing how well test takers performed in different achievement areas related to each subject.
For example, 69% of LCUSD students performed “above standard” in their ability to communicate in writing on the English assessment, while 70% performed at the same level when it came to using mathematical rules and ideas.
But only 44% enjoyed similarly high rates in English in understanding spoken information. And while 94% of juniors scored near or above standard in showing and applying problem-solving skill, only 56% of those were found to be “above standard.”
Dreibelbis said considering achievement area results and looking not just at percentages, but at the mean scale scores for each school and grade level will be useful in helping communicate where exactly schools, teachers and grade levels might focus their attention and lessons in the future.
The tests also allow number crunchers to compare this year’s fourth-grade test results, for example, not only to last year’s fourth graders, but to the results they earned the year before as third-graders.
“I think that is the meat of our work,” Dreibelbis said. “That gives teachers direction in where there’s been tremendous success and where we find areas where we might have room for improvement.”
Despite the finer distinctions that can be made, LCUSD students are continuing to rank among the highest in the state, along with other high-performing districts such as San Marino Unified, Alameda County’s Piedmont Unified and Palo Alto Unified.
La Cañada students ranked among the top three in the state in all grades except seventh tested for English Language Arts and math. Three of those rankings placed LCUSD in the No. 1 spot for fifth- and eight-grade English and sixth-grade math.
In a statement Wednesday, La Cañada Unified Supt. Wendy Sinnette praised the collective work and contributions of all the district’s stakeholders for the recent good news.
“Placing among the highest performing school districts in California is a great accomplishment, and our students should be proud of their significant achievements on this statewide assessment,” Sinnette said.
“I am grateful to our teachers and support staff for their dedicated professionalism,” the superintendent continued. “Our parents are equal contributors to these stellar outcomes, continually partnering with our schools to strengthen our districtwide commitment to personal growth and academic excellence.”
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
