Superintendent to discuss student test score results at meeting

Last spring, Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) students in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 11th grades took a new style of state testing. The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) was an on-line assessment that measured their problem solving and critical thinking skills.

LTUSD Superintendent Dr. James Tarwater will present the results to the School Board Trustees during Tuesday's board meeting.

"California's plan for high quality teaching and learning will be based on student progress over time on the CAASPP results," said the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. "The goal in California is to help all students graduate with the problem solving and critical thinking skills they need to prepare for college and 21st century careers. No longer is the state using paper and pencil based exams, but has gone to online assessments. These challenging academic standards are new to students; the tests are fundamentally different and cannot be compared to the old test scores."

Since there are no local comparative scores, the Spring scores will be a benchmark and will be compared to statewide results. LTUSD has mailed out test results to the parents of all students who took the test, along with an explanation on how to understand how their student performed.

The District will be presenting CAASPP results in two phases. The first phase will examine achievement level distributions for English language arts/literacy and mathematics and compare LTUSD's grades 3-8 and 11 results with the California statewide results.

The overall achievement level is divided into four categories: "standard exceeded, standard met, standard nearly met, and standard not met."

In phase one the District-wide results will be examined as well as each school's results, as compared to the statewide results. In addition, the District will inspect overall achievement levels in English learners (EL), low-income (LI), and all other students, so that subgroup comparisons can be made.

In phase 2, under the CAASPP results, the District will examine in detail, by school, overall achievement in the specific areas under English language arts/literacy and mathematics.

Comparisons will be made regarding the four major areas of assessment in ELA which are 1) reading: demonstrating understanding of literacy and non-fictional text; 2) writing: producing clear and purposeful writing; 3) listening: demonstrating effective communication skills; and 4) research/inquiry: investigating, analyzing and presenting information. In mathematics the three areas that will be reviewed are the following: 1) concepts and procedures: applying mathematical concepts and procedures; 2) problem solving and modeling/data analysis: using appropriate tools and strategies to solve real-world mathematical problems; and 3) communicating reasoning: demonstrating ability to support mathematical conclusions.

The September 22 meeting is at 5 p.m. at the Education Center Board Room 1021 Al Tahoe Blvd. South Lake Tahoe.

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