CAASPP scores show high performance at Aragon

The majority of Aragon students who took the first official administration of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) last spring either met or exceeded the Common Core standards. Based on the recently released results, Aragon surpassed several other schools in the San Mateo High School District (SMUHSD), having a higher percentage of students who either met or exceeded the standards.
In response to the district scores, Superintendent Kevin Skelly says, “We did really well. We were pretty pleased here … Both the district’s and San Mateo County’s scores were higher than the state scores, and our district’s scores were higher than the county’s.”
At Aragon, 85 percent of Aragon students met or exceeded English Language Arts (ELA) standards, and 61 percent met or exceeded mathematics standards.
In the district, 75 percent of students met or exceeded ELA standards. For mathematics, 54 percent of students met or exceeded standards.
In the state, 56 percent met or exceeded ELA standards and 28 percent met or exceeded mathematics standards.
Skelly says, “These aren’t pass or fail tests. They are on a four-part scale, with a [percentage of students] who didn’t meet, nearly met, met, and then exceeded, so it’s not like some students will flunk or pass through high school with them. But I think they are a really good indicator for students … about how they’re doing.”
Across the state, the CAASPP results fell below those of the previous STAR test. Superintendent Skelly says, “I would say [the] “exceeding” [tier on the CAASPP] would be the same as [the] “advanced” [tier on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test].” He continues, “This is a harder test, and there are a lower number of people passing this test.”
Principal Pat Kurtz points out, however, that CAASPP and the STAR tests cannot be compared. She says, “They are apples to oranges, and do not compare at all. They tested completely different items. The STAR test tested [already existing] standards … Common Core does not test curriculum standards. It tests the college and career readiness standards.”
Kurtz adds, “STAR testing looked at individual [subjects]. So you’d take one in Algebra 3/4 [and] Algebra 1/2, you’d take one in English, you’d take one in social studies. That’s not what Common Core is. For Common Core, one side is ELA and one side is math, and it’s looking at general types of skills rather than individual, discrete curriculum skills.”
Another difference from the older STAR tests is that the CAASPP is taken on a computer, instead of with a scantron and pencil. Senior Landers Ngirchemat, who took the CAASPP last year, believes that the computerized format hindered his performance. He says, “On the English comprehension portion, you had to endlessly scroll through an entire text, whereas [on] a paper-type test, the text is given on a single page or two. The continuous scrolling threw me off to the point where I got lazy and rambled through the test.”
The State Board of Education decided that California schools will not have Academic Performance Indexes (API) until 2016. The California Department of Education declared that the results of the spring 2015 CAASPP will serve as a new 2015 API baseline, and to inform the 2015 Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP) measurement for the No Child Left Behind Act.
In efforts to prepare students for the CAASPP, teachers in non-academic classes have been giving assignments that align with the Common Core standards. Regarding Common Core assignments, junior Aaron Kranzler comments, “Common Core stands for something that I totally agree agree with, which is the improvement of communication, problem solving, [and] formulating arguments. However, when Common Core [is] being implemented, I don’t really see much of an improvement or emphasis in these areas.”
Junior Arnav Bhavsar believes that Common Core assignments and tests are unnecessary. He says, “I’ve had to write in P.E. and Symphonic Band. I think [this writing is] out of place and arbitrary because [it is] often unrelated to the main focus of the class and what the class mainly does.”
Bhavsar adds, “I don’t feel like they really improve my ability to defend a claim or my writing skills, even though that may be the intended purpose. Not to discredit my P.E. or Symphonic Band teachers, but it feels like they aren’t really the appropriate kinds of teachers to give feedback on a student’s writing. To me, an English teacher would seem much more reliable for that sort of thing.”
Senior Andrew Fong, who also took the CASSPP last year, recognizes the ultimate benefits of Common Core assignments. He says, “[They] may be more tedious than previous assignments, but they do establish consistent guidelines and standards that every student will eventually adjust to.”
Skelly says, “Over time, as everybody adjusts to the new standards, I think the pass rates will go up. We’re looking at who [does] well, how [other students are] doing, [and] how [we can] support those students.”