The Merced City School District is excited to share that our students have shown significant improvement in both English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics in just the second year of the new California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). The CAASPP is a modern online testing system for our third through eighth grade students, which is much different than paper tests of the past.
The percentage of MCSD students who met or exceeded standards in the English language arts portion of the test increased by 7% from 2015. The number of students who met or exceeded standards in mathematics increased by 4%. Those statistics are especially noteworthy when considering our district is the largest in Merced County, with more than 11,000 students.
Multiple schools in our district also made incredible double digit gains over last year. Burbank Elementary increased the number of students who met or exceeded standards in both mathematics and ELA by 14%. Other schools that saw major gains in ELA include Gracey (10% improvement), Rivera (12% improvement), and Tenaya (18% improvement). Reyes Elementary also saw significant growth with a 7% improvement in ELA and a 5% improvement in mathematics.
This new CAASPP data also allows us to analyze various subgroups. For example, among students who are not economically disadvantaged, several schools had at least 50% of their students meet or exceed standards. In ELA, they include: Burbank (86%), Muir (73%), Sheehy (72%), Franklin (72%), Chenoweth (71%), Rivera Elementary (70%), Peterson (63%), Stefani (62%), Wright (62%), Cruickshank (60%), Tenaya (58%), Givens (56%), Hoover (54%), and Rivera Middle School (52%). For mathematics, they include: Burbank (80%), Franklin (71%), Sheehy (63%), Muir (57%), Chenoweth (54%), Rivera Elementary (52%), and Peterson (50%).
The Merced City School District would also like to make parents aware that due to the change in test formats, schools that were given a Performance Improvement (PI) status in 2013-2014 have not had the opportunity to change that status. PI designations are frozen until further notice and may not accurately reflect a school’s academic progress in English language arts and mathematics standards.
We are proud of the successes so far and recognize that that there is still work to be done to maximize our students’ potential. Through our Local Control Accountability Plan’s focus on 21st Century learning, extended day opportunities, engaging materials, highly trained staff, and modern facilities, we continue to improve opportunities for every child. We have also launched a new reading initiative with the goal of having all students reading proficiently by the end of third grade. We will continue to use this CAASPP data to ensure resources are being used in the most effective and efficient way to help all students succeed.
Several tools are also available to help parents understand and use CAASPP results. Those include:
- Website with comparison tools and test score guide: http://www.caaspp.org/
- Video for understanding score reports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoxPJtFbBKE
Our schools are committed to ongoing improvement, and our district is making strides every day. We look forward to continued collaboration with parents and other community members as we work to give all of our students the best opportunities for bright futures.
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