According to the 2000 Stanford Achievement Test, Edition 9 (SAT), Malibu schools are in fine academic shape.
Math scores showed an overall increase in all schools ranging from elementary to high school grades.
The Stanford 9 is a test used by the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program (STAR).
Though people often refer to STAR and Stanford 9 interchangeably, STAR is a testing program and SAT is the actual test the students take for this program.
The SAT test was first administered in 1998. Since then, all public school districts in California are required to test students in grades two through 11 by May 15 of every year.
Speaking about the results, Malibu High School Principal Mike Matthews said, “These percentile things are hard to understand.”
“All it is, is an average of Malibu students’ percentile,” he said. “For example, if you were the best school in the state, your score would be 99 percent, but your score of 79 percent overall reflects the school itself.”
Malibu’s eighth graders scored in the 89th percentile for English, up three percentage points from last year, and 76th percentile in math, indicating an increase of 14 points.
Grade 10 scored 69 percent in reading, equaling a 12 percent increase and 58 percent in math, a one-point increase.
“We do not teach the test here, said Matthews. “We just tell teachers to do the best job they possibly can.”
Greatschools.net, a Website listing the results, said that statewide, the percentage of students at this school scoring above the 50th percentile on the SAT test was 73 percent in reading for the year 2000, 74 percent in 1999 and 71 percent in 1998. The results are equally good in math.
As for the reason for the good performance, Matthews believes that teachers, parents and children all worked hard. He stated that 15 percent of students at Malibu High took after-school courses from the Sylvan Learning Center on campus, “and that may have helped.
“Our parents are supportive, our children are working hard,” said the principal.
“I think that the Stanford 9 is one judge of a good school. But many students do not test well and there are many other ways to test students,” said Matthews.
The biggest increase was reflected in the elementary grades. Juan Cabrillo returned the largest rise in test scores compared to last year.
Cabrillo’s fourth graders scored in the 86th percentile in reading, showing an increase of 44 points. Math scored 71 percent, equaling a 35-point increase. Cabrillo Principal Pat Cairns was not available to comment on these results, since she is out of the office until early August.
Cabrillo also performed above average statewide; the results showed that 83 percent of students scored above the 50th percentile, an increase of eight points as opposed to last year. Math scores fell two points from last year overall.
Point Dume Elementary, which got 87 percent in reading, had a decrease of three points. However, a 93rd percentile in math equaled a 10-point increase.
Webster Elementary School’s 80 percent in reading also showed a three-point decrease since last year, but once again the 91 percent results in math indicated a rise of 11 points in math.
Additional reports and resources about the STAR program can be found at:http://www.cde.ca.gov/star/.