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Riverside County students continue to improve on state tests
Freshly released statewide testing data shows that even after four years of budget crises, Riverside County continues to make important gains in student performance and closing the achievement gap, noted Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth M. Young.
The new data was contained in the state’s 2011 Base Academic Performance Index (API) report, released June 14, 2012.
“Even under these difficult conditions, to their real credit, the county’s schools have successfully stayed focused on improving student performance,” Young said. “That kind of commitment is key to helping our students build better lives for themselves and a stronger economy for our region.”
The continued gains are in line with Young’s pledge, on becoming county superintendent of schools in 2007, to see that all students in Riverside County graduate well-prepared for college and the workforce.
The data show:
-- In the last four years, the percentage of Riverside County schools reaching the top-tier state goal of an 800 score has increased by 22 percentage points. That’s the largest gain of any of California’s 11 comparable counties (those with at least 10,000 high school graduates annually).
-- Since this testing was initiated in 1999, Riverside County has expanded its 800-scoring schools by 45 percentage points. That’s the second-largest increase among California’s comparable counties.
-- Year over year, the county’s percentage of ‘800’ schools jumped two places in statewide rankings of large counties, from eighth to sixth.
And these improvements are generally being recorded across all grade levels – in elementary, middle and high schools – and across student subgroups as well. In the last four years, when measured against comparison counties, Riverside County schools have recorded the third largest gain in average student API score, the third largest gain for scores of African American students, and the seventh largest gain for Hispanic students.
Even in categories where Riverside County lags the statewide average, it generally continues to stay close to that mark. In the category of four-year average school API scores for English learners, for instance, Riverside County has gained a single point less than the State figure.
The 2011 Base API Report, released today by the California Department of Education, is a statistical summary of results from statewide testing this spring. The report establishes the new baseline against which current-year test scores will be measured. Those test scores are to be released in August or September. The data also include statistical rankings which allow parents to make meaningful comparisons of their school with similar schools elsewhere.
For information contact:
Rick Peoples
Telephone: (951) 826-6642
Fax: (951) 826-6199
rpeoples@rcoe.us
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