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HB students fare well again in tests
by Robb Fulcher
Hermosa’s public school students once again scored well across all grade levels on the state-mandated Stanford Achievement Test, which is designed to measure proficiency in reading, writing, math and spelling.
The results were similar to last year’s, with Hermosa students scoring mostly in the top 20 percent to 30 percent of all students statewide.
"These are good numbers, and we want to work to improve them," said Robert "Duffy" Clark, the school district’s new superintendent.
The tests were taken in March by roughly 650 Hermosa students in grades 2 through 8, and the results were announced this week by the school district’s administration.
The lowest scores came in the category of eighth grade spelling, in which Hermosa students ranked only in the top 39 percent nationwide. However, the scores improved significantly from last year, when Hermosa’s eighth grade spellers ranked just under the statewide middle.
"Valley School concentrated on spelling," Clark said.
By subject area, students in the other grades also made their lowest scores in spelling.
The top scores came in the category of second grade writing, in which Hermosa students ranked in the top 13 percent nationwide.
Educators typically view the standardized tests as one of many indicators of scholastic performance.
"They are one indicator we look at," Clark said, along with students’ grades, writing samples and other assessments by educators at individual schools.
Clark said the current version of the Stanford test has been in use for three years, and educators will study the scores from this year and previous years in more detail over the summer.
In another indicator used by state educators, the fledgling Academic Performance Index, Hermosa scored 838 points overall, out of a possible 1,000. Schools scoring 800 or higher are expected by the state to maintain those levels, while schools scoring lower are given specific goals for improvement.
The Academic Performance Index also ranked Hermosa students in the top 30 percent statewide when compared with students from 100 demographically similar schools. That "similar schools ranking" was based upon last year’s test scores plus factors such as students’ ethnicity and socioeconomic status, average class size, and percentage of teachers with full credentials.
State officials said they will release the next Academic Performance Index in the coming fall, perhaps in an expanded form that would compare schools’ graduation rates, a high school exit examination, and fuller testing for students not yet fluent in English. ER