By Rachel KANE

Students in the Crescenta Valley maintained high test scores across the board last school year, according to the 2010 California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program test results.
The STAR program tests students on English-Language Arts, specific mathematics subjects, science, history and social science subjects every year. Test results are used as a basis for state and federal level funding.
“The test scores are important because they’re a snapshot of how well students are achieving, however it’s not the end all be all,” Glendale Unified School District Supt. Richard Sheehan said. “It’s not everything that goes into measuring a student’s success or failure.”
Students in all 10 La Crescenta schools performed strongly, with a large majority of scores in the advanced, proficient or basic knowledge levels on tests they took after completing classes in the tested subjects.
“The kids, especially in the La Crescenta area, continue to achieve at very high levels,” Sheehan said. “And just not on STAR testing.”
Next Tuesday’s school board meeting will feature a moment of recognition for five national merit scholars, all students at Crescenta Valley High School, he said.
“I think it’s an attribute to all of the hard works of the teachers and administrators who invest so much of their time to ensure the kids are successful,” he said.
Clark Magnet School, Crescenta Valley High School and Verdugo Academy students received the highest percentage of scores in the advanced or proficient categories with very few, if any, students receiving below basic or far below basic results.
Bright spots at Rosemont Middle School include 95% of eighth graders testing at the advanced level in geometry, giving them the best scores among the Glendale Unified School District’s middle schools and bringing them in above both the district average of 82% and the Los Angeles County average of 47%.
“The test scores are amazing,” Rosemont Middle School Principal Cynthia Livingston said. “I could not be more proud of the staff or the students. Geometry is a subject that is a high school subject and the kids that are taking that class know that they have to put in extra effort and weekend study. That’s pretty exciting. Pretty remarkable.”
Fourth graders at Monte Vista Elementary School shined in mathematics, with 86% of students tested falling into the advanced category and beating the district’s average of 53% and the county average of 42%.
“We have a very hard working team and they collaborate well together, the teachers,” Monte Vista Elementary School Principal Dr. Susan Hoge said, who also pointed out that incidents in the last year didn’t exactly make for the most conducing learning conditions.
“It was a tough year last year with the fires and the floods and the flu,” Hoge said. “So it was a super, great job getting through all of that and still doing fantastic.”
For full access to the 2010 California Standardized Test results, including reports on La Crescenta schools, visit http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2010/Index.asp.

  Crescenta, cvhs