Delay of 2012 CST Scores Causes Strong Impact on Class Scheduling
SEAN NGUYEN
Staff Writer
Each year the State Board of Education administers the STAR exams to measure statewide academic achievement and hold California schools accountable for helping their students meet the state’s standards for education. Scores are typically released by early August, but the public release of this year’s scores saw almost a two-week delay due to issues regarding the integrity of the test scores following a breach in security and did not occur until Aug. 31.
According to released statements by the California Department of Education (CDE), the situation stemmed from the use of cell phone cameras to take pictures of testing materials.
“Test security was compromised when students posted images of actual test questions, answer documents and test booklets to social networking sites,” a statement released by the CDE said.
As a consequence to the breach in security, the CDE has determined that assessments and critical analysis had to be done to determine the extent of impact to which the reliability of the 2012 scores may have been affected.
At AHS, the delayed scores made a strong impact on integral procedures, such as class sectioning and student placement.
“Because the CST scores affect students’ GPAs through the form of CST student incentives, class placements and sectioning were also strongly impacted,” Assistant Principal of Guidance Phuong Nguyen said.
As a result of the delayed scores, hundreds of students were subjected to numerous schedule changes in the Math Department alone.
“Since school started in August this year, and the scores came afterwards, 250 students had to have their schedules changed,” Math Department Head Debora Blais said. “Also, because a number of sections were not opened due to the scores, students were not able to get some classes such as Algebra II.”
Although the school faced several tough challenges as a result of the delays, some students did not personally feel strongly impacted by the postponed scores.
“I just don’t really think that the delays make a big difference anyway,” senior Ivan Wong said.
Other students feel that the delays are completely warranted and important to ensure accurate reporting of statewide academic accountability.
“The delay was understandable if they wanted accurate results,” senior Johnson Lien said.
Shortly following the discovery of the photos posted online, the CDE released a statement informing District and County Superintendents and District Coordinators of the issue and reminding test administrators of key regulations and procedures essential to test security.
“Although I cannot [speak] for other schools, I think that the teachers at our school have a lot of integrity and wouldn’t let students cheat on such an important test,” Blais said.