Darleene Barrientos
Local high school juniors looking forward to college better eat their
Wheaties and plan to hit the books now, as they will face a barrage
of tests throughout most of May.
The testing season for the district will begin in February, with
students at each grade level taking tests such as physical fitness,
Standard Testing and Reporting and the California High School Exit
Exam all the way through June.
The schedule for the class of 2006 will be brutal -- juniors are
scheduled to take the Advanced Placement tests during the first two
weeks of May, standard exams throughout May and Scholastic Aptitude
Tests on May 7. Standard exams are scheduled on a school-by-school
basis within the 20-day window mandated by the state.
"This year, the state mandated the STAR exam and the AP exams fall
on the same dates," Glendale High School Assistant Principal Scott
Anderle said. "The poor AP students have to study for AP and STAR at
the same time."
In past years the state allowed schools to administer the
springtime test after three quarters of the year had past, said Terry
Dutton, the district's director of testing and assessment. This year,
its required that schools give the tests after 85% of the school year
has passed.
"If you test any later, the scores wouldn't be back until
September, and a lot of placement decisions are made during the
summer," Dutton said.
The standard exam program consists of the California Standards
Test and the California Achievement Test, which compares students'
scores to national averages.
In each district, 95% of the students in all categories in all
schools are required to participate in the standard exam program. The
test categories are language arts, social science, math and science.
They last between two and three hours.
Students taking Advanced Placement classes -- rigorous,
college-level classes -- are typically four-year university bound.
These tests are voluntary, but some students take as many of the
tests as possible because a score of three or more could earn them
college credit. Advanced Placement tests range from European history
to environmental science and music theory. They can last three hours
or more.
"It's not unusual for our top scholars to be at almost sophomore
standing because of the credit they got on an AP exam," said Greg
Franklin, the district's assistant superintendent of educational
services for middle and high schools. "[Another reason is] that kids
like to measure their ability against the national standard. You
