Test Scores Up Slightly for Long Beach Schools

Long Beach Unified School District students made slight gains in three of five subject areas tested according to the standardized test results released Thursday by the California Department of Education. Statewide, scores were down slightly, the report shows.

LBUSD saw a 0.9 percent increase in English proficiency, meaning students scored at or above their grade level, a 0.8 percent increase in history, and a 1.8 percent increase on grade 5, 8 and 10 science tests, according the report. The gains for Long Beach schools place them near statewide averages despite the fact that about 70 percent of students here live in poverty, compared to 57.5 percent statewide, the district press release said.

“For more than 10 years now, we have seen an overall trend of improved student achievement, despite the serious challenges of poverty and statewide cuts to education,” Long Beach Superintendent Christopher J. Steinhauser stated. “We continue to see encouraging progress thanks to the hard work of our employees, students, parents and many supporters in the community.”

Long Beach schools continue to perform well in eighth grade algebra with a 73 percent proficiency rate, a gain of 4 percent compared to last year and far surpassing the state’s average, according to the release.

“We’ve focused on eighth grade algebra because we know how key it is to equity and access to higher education,” Steinhauser stated.  “The aim is to help lift students out of poverty and give all students a chance to pursue college and rewarding careers. Clearly our work in algebra is paying dividends for students who come from all walks of life.”

Course-specific science test scores, such as biology and physics, and math scores both decreased by 2.1 percent.  The scores are considered preliminary because they do not include data for the 15 year-round schools in the district where students take the standardized test on a later schedule, according to the release.

Of the nearly 4.7 million students around California who took the tests during the last school year, 56.4 percent were advanced or proficient in English, down from 57.2 percent last year. In math, 51.2 percent were advanced or proficient, compared to 51.5 percent in 2012.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson blamed the slip on continued budget cuts for education and a switch to new standards known as “Common Core,” which are designed to align education goals nationwide.

“As you would expect for a school system in transition, results varied from grade to grade, subject to subject and school to school, but the big picture is one of remarkable resilience despite the challenges,'' Torlakson stated.

Even with the dip, the results still reflect a marked improvement over a decade ago, when only about one-third of students were scoring advanced or proficient in tests, he stated.

- City News Service contributed to this report.