General Achievement Trends: California
Author: Center on Education Policy
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Grades (Scholastic),Federal Legislation,Testing Programs,Academic Achievement,Measures (Individuals),Trend Analysis,State Standards,Grade 4,Grade 8,Grade 10,Effect Size,Scores,Reading Achievement,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,High School Students,Mathematics Achievement,Achievement Gains,Low Achievement,High Achievement,Exit Examinations,Algebra,Grade 3,Grade 5,Grade 6,Grade 7

This general achievement trends profile includes information that the Center on Education Policy (CEP) and the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) obtained from states from fall 2008 through April 2009. Included herein are: (1) Bullet points summarizing key findings about achievement trends in that state at three performance levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced; (2) Background information about limitations of the state's test data and characteristics of the state's testing system, including major changes in its testing system; (3) Figures and tables with the percentages of students scoring at the proficient level and above for all years with comparable data since 1999 and for all grades tested under the No Child Left Behind Act; (4) Figures and tables with percentages of students performing at three achievement levels--basic, proficient, and advanced--for all years with comparable data and for grades 4, 8, and 10 (or adjacent grades, in the case of states that lack comparable trend data for these default grades); (5) Figures and tables with mean scale scores, standard deviations, and effect sizes for all years with comparable data and for the three grades analyzed in this study; and (6) Figures and tables with mean scale scores, standard deviations, and effect sizes for all years with comparable data and for the three grades analyzed in this study. Overall, California students have made gains since 2004 at the basic, proficient, and advanced achievement levels. Specific results include: (1) The percentage of students scoring at the basic level and above in reading increased at a moderate-to-large rate at the elementary and high school grades analyzed and at a slight rate at the middle school level; in math, the percentage basic and above rose slightly at the elementary and middle school grades analyzed and grew at a moderate-to-large rate at the high school level; (2) In reading, the percentage of students performing at the proficient level and above went up at a moderate-to-large rate at the elementary and middle school levels and at a slight rate at the high school grade analyzed; in math, there were moderate-to-large gains in the percentage proficient at all three grade levels analyzed; and (3) The percentage of students reaching the advanced level in reading increased at a moderate-to-large rate at the elementary and middle school grades analyzed but decreased slightly at the high school level. In math, the percentage of advanced students rose at a moderate-to-large rate at all three grade levels analyzed. (Contains 6 figures and 6 tables.) [This is an updated version of ED506138. For &quot;State Test Score Trends through 2007-08, Part I: Is the Emphasis on &quot;Proficiency&quot; Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students?,&quot; see ED506121. For &quot;State Test Score Trends through 2007-08. Part II: Is There a Plateau Effect in Test Scores?,&quot; see ED506122.]