Darleene Barrientos
Where the Glendale Unified School District might see jumps and gains
in standardized test scores, one parent will see a good job of
spinning the data to fit the district's needs.
Two weeks after the state released the annual STAR -- Standardized
Testing and Reporting -- scores, La Canada Flintridge parent Cheryl
Boghossian believes that Glendale Unified School District officials
misrepresented the data by announcing student scores were improving,
but not saying just how many of those students were doing well.
"I just see these slanted numbers every year. My friend is a
teacher [in Glendale]. She says every year, 'Oh, we're doing great.'
But if you see statistics broken down the right way, no, they're
not," Boghossian said.
Boghossian, whose two children are students within the La Canada
Unified School District, believes Glendale is not releasing the test
scores alongside the number of students who truly took the test. She
believes that most Glendale students are not meeting state standards
in Algebra I and are not taking more comprehensive math or science
courses.
The STAR test results are based on two standardized tests that 95%
of the district's students take in the spring. They are the
California Standards Tests (CST) and the California Achievement Test,
also known as the CAT-6. The CST compares scores among California
students. The CAT-6 scores compare students to the national averages.
In subjects like chemistry and physics, Glendale Teacher
Specialist Anne Reinhard said that Boghossian was correct when she
said a small percentage of ninth-grade students -- 1% out of the
district's 2,569 ninth-grade students, or 25 students -- took the
chemistry test. But it would be false to say that the district's
ninth-grade students are failing the chemistry proficiency test, she
added.
"The students attempting chemistry in ninth grade are probably
very strong students overall," Reinhard said.
According to test results downloaded from the state Department of
Education website, 48.9% of the district's 2,569 ninth-grade students
-- or about 1,255 students -- were tested in Algebra I. Only 29%
tested at proficient, which is the state's goal for each student.
Thirty percent scored at basic, 30% at below basic and 7% at far
below basic.
Boghossian also says that Glendale school officials don't take
into consideration the high scores of neighboring districts, like La
Canada Unified. But Reinhard says that the two districts are on
unequal footing.
