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File photograph by Skye Dunlap
High Scorer: Willow Glen High School student Nora Vizcarra and her classmates have helped raise city-wide test scores above the national average.
SJ Unified scored in 1999 with improved test results
By Jessica Lyons
Scores from the statewide achievement test are in, placing San Jose Unified School District at the head of the class.
In all grades 2 to 11, and in all three areas--math, language and reading--the district saw a jump in test scores from the 1998 results, with all grade levels scoring above the national average of 50 percent.
Individual school scores, and state- and county-wide results were not available at press time. They will, however, be posted on the district's website, www.sjusd.k12.ca.us by June 30.
The San Jose Unified School District's greatest improvements were in mathematics, which showed an 8 percentile leap above the 1998 scores. The district average for non-Limited English Proficient (LEP) students is now at the 61st percentile.
Language scores showed an increase of 5 percentile points across grade levels, with the district average of non-LEP students hitting the 64th percentile.
Reading scores rose 2 percentile points. The current district average is at the 58th percentile.
Maureen Davidson, spokesperson for the district, attributes the jump in test scores to a more standards-driven focus, as well as increases in state-wide funding for books, technology and teacher training programs.
"We spent a significant part of this year aligning our curriculum standards with the state's curriculum standards and thus, the tests," Davidson says. "It's all moving together, it's all coming into place and as early as next year I think we'll see even more significant results state-wide."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
