YES!!!

My heart is pounding! I'm in near disbelief! My kids rocked the state exam! I mean, I knew they would do well, better than any group I've ever had, but these results are even beyond what I was hoping for!

The state released test score data today (http://star.cde.ca.gov). I don't know anything yet about whether or not we met our API or AYP (have I explained what those are in previous blogs?), but in just a quick perusal of the data, our 5th graders did better this year than any other Garfield 5th grade group has done before.

* 34% of our 5th grade students scored at Proficient or Advanced in English language arts (when they were in 4th grade, only 28% did; only 20% of last year's 5th grade students were Proficient or Advanced). This is the best percentage in our entire school.

* 57% of our 5th graders scored Proficient or Advanced in math (when they were in 4th grade, 36% of them did; 43% of last year's 5th grade students were Proficient or Advanced). This is also the best percentage in our school AND it's better than the district and state averages! 37% scored Advanced, which is unheard of - the district average was just 24%.

Compared to other schools in our district with similar student populations, my kids kicked butt!

Why am I so excited? A lot of teachers despise these tests. I am a critic, but I do believe they have value in measuring and comparing real learning between schools. It's the only objective measuring stick I have to see how my kids are doing compared to kids in other schools, and my kids did great!