During the same period, California instituted other statewide school reforms including a mandatory class size reduction program and mandatory statewide achievement testing. The test is supplemented with additional items based on state standards. Students take the test every Spring in grades 2 through 11. STAR breaks out test scores by school for LEP students, among other categories. STAR data for 2000 published in August show that LEP students statewide improved their scores for the second year in a row, with the biggest gains coming in the early grades.
Opponents dispute that analysis.
Some academics and state education officials caution against oversimplifying the situation. There is considerable disagreement about how to view the latest data. We summarize several conflicting analyses below. READ considers the latter result an indicator that younger children benefit the most from English immersion classes. READ breaks down scores for certain districts that it categorizes according to how they implemented Proposition 227.