PVPUSD STAR Test Scores Hold Steady

student scores on STAR tests held steady this year, with the district still ranking among the top in the South Bay, according to results released Friday by the state Department of Education.

More than 9,000 PVPUSD students took the tests, and 86 percent scored either proficient or advanced on the English-language portion in 2012—a 0.3-point gain over the district's 2011 English-language scores.

In second- through seventh-grade math, the district posted a slight drop from 78.3 percent in 2011 to 78 percent in 2012.

Across Los Angeles County, students continued improving their scores on standardized tests, with higher percentages scoring advanced or proficient in math and English.

The improvement in Los Angeles County scores on the 2012 Standardized Testing and Reporting Program mirrored increases seen across the state, according to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

"In less than a decade, California has gone from having only one student in three score proficient to better than one student in two," Torlakson said. "That's nearly 900,000 more students reaching proficiency now than in 2003—a remarkable achievement that represents real, sustained improvements in learning."

More than 1.1 million students in Los Angeles County were tested, with 54.4 percent scoring advanced or proficient in English-language arts and 49.4 percent in mathematics, according to figures released by the state. Last year, 51 percent of county students scored advanced or proficient in English and 47.9 percent achieved those levels in math.

The Los Angeles County numbers all lag behind the statewide average, which shows 57.2 percent scoring advanced or proficient in English and 51.5 percent in math.

About 4.7 million students took part in the 2012 STAR program, which includes California Standards Tests, California Modified Assessment, California Alternate Performance Assessment and Standards-based Tests in Spanish for Spanish-speaking and English-learner students.

—City News Service contributed to this report.