San Diego County students show steady results on standardized tests

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego County students' performance on standardized tests in English and math mostly held steady from the previous year, according to scores released today by the California Department of Education.

The performance of San Diego County students on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress tests generally surpassed that of students statewide, according to the department.

The CAASPP tests were administered in the spring to more than 3 million students across the state in grades 3-8 and 11.

In San Diego County, 26.45% of the more than 250,000 students who took the tests exceeded the state standard in English, up slightly from 25.79 percent the previous year. According to the state, 30.1% met the standard, down slightly from 30.46% last year; 20.89% "nearly'' met the standard, down slightly from 20.93% last year; and 22.55% failed to meet it, down from 22.82% the previous year.

In math, 23.45% exceeded the standard, 21.6% met it, 24.84% nearly met it and 30.12% failed to meet it. The percentages from the previous year were 22.52%, 21.76%, 25.37% and 30.36%, respectively.

Statewide, 22.23% exceeded the standard in English, while 28.64% met it, 22.4% nearly met it and 26.73% failed to meet it. In math, 19.69% exceeded the standard, 20.04% met it, 25.41% nearly met it and 34.86% failed to meet it. The statewide scores were all also moderately improved from the previous year.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond acknowledged the overall improvement but said he was concerned that gains were less consistent in later grades of 7, 8 and 11, while performance continues to lag among some students of color.

"Disparities between students of color and their white and Asian peers continue from year to year and demonstrate the importance of our priority initiative of closing the achievement gap,'' Thurmond said in a statement. "Education equity should mean equity for all students and right now, we are not there. All students should have an equal opportunity to succeed academically and enter the workforce prepared with the needed skills to compete in the industries that drive our state forward.''