Several school districts report yearly improvement on state English and math tests

Students in Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach schools showed gains from 2016 in last spring’s standardized tests in English-language arts and mathematics, the California Department of Education announced this week.

Throughout the state, 3.2 million students in grades 3 through 8, and 11, participated in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, the education department said in a news release.

This is the third year of the computer-based tests, which use California’s academic standards and ask students to write clearly, think critically and solve complex problems, just as they will need to do in college and their careers, the release said.

The overall percentage of Laguna Beach Unified School District students who met or exceeded standards in mathematics increased from the prior year — 71.8% in 2017 compared with 70% in 2016, according to results on the education department’s website.

In seventh-grade math, 76% of students met or exceeded standards compared with 64% of students in 2016, according to results. In fourth-grade math, 80.2% of students met or exceeded standards compared with 72% the previous year.

The overall percentage of Laguna Beach Unified students who met or exceeded standards in English-language arts equaled the 2016 figure — 82%.

In the Huntington Beach City School District, which includes grades 3 through 8, 75% of students exceeded or met English-language arts standards compared with 74% in 2016, according to results.

In mathematics, 69% of students met or exceeded standards compared with 67% in 2016.

The overall percentage of Fountain Valley School District students, which includes grades 3 through 8, who met or exceeded standards in both English-language arts and math, increased from 2016, to 75% in English-language arts and to 70.4% in math.

Eighth-grade students who met or exceeded standards in math increased 8.5% to 70.5% compared with 62% in 2016.

Tests consist of two parts: a computer-adaptive assessment and a performance task.

The computer assessment bases follow-up questions on a student’s answers and gives a more accurate picture of progress than paper-and-pencil, multiple-choice tests, the release said.

If a student answers a question correctly, they get a more difficult question. If they answer incorrectly, they get an easier question.

The performance task challenges students’ ability to apply their knowledge and skills to problems in a real-world setting.

In the Ocean View School District, 61% of students in grades 3 through 8 met or exceeded English-language arts standards compared with 59% last year.

The percentage of students in grades 3 and 7 who met or exceeded standards increased 7% for each grade level — 60% for third grade and 70% for seventh grade.

In mathematics, 57% of students met or exceeded standards compared with 54% last year.

In the Huntington Beach Union High School District, 78% of juniors met or exceeded the standards in English-language arts compared with 76% in 2016.

In mathematics, 53% of juniors met or exceeded the standard compared with 52% last year.

In the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, the overall percentage of students who met or exceeded standards in English-language arts increased slightly to 58.6% compared with 58% in 2016, according to results.

Third-grade students who met or exceeded English-language arts standards showed the largest percentage increase — 5% — of any grade level.

The overall percentage of Newport-Mesa students who met or exceeded standards in math decreased from 51% in 2016 to 50% this year.

Statewide, in all tested grades, 48.6% percent of students met or exceeded the English-language arts standards, while 37.6% percent of students met or exceeded math standards, the release said.

— Staff writer Ben Brazil contributed to this report.

[email protected]

Twitter: @AldertonBryce