Piedmont Demonstrates Excellence in Statewide Test Results

Posted August 30, 2016

Piedmont Demonstrates Excellence in Statewide Test Results

PUSD Press Release
August 31, 2016

On August 24, 2016, the California Department of Education released the 2016 CAASPP student assessment results for districts across the state.

Piedmont at the Top of the Charts

Piedmont Unified ranks #3 in the state of California in the percentage of students who either met or exceeded the standards in English language Arts/Literacy and #1 in the state of California in the percentage of students who either met or exceeded the standards in Mathematics.

CAASPP: The California Assessment of Student Performance & Progress

The CAASPP — the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress – are computer-based assessments in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. The CAASPP replaced the paper-based Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program two years ago. Last Spring, Piedmont Students in grades 3–8 and 11 participated in the 2016 CAASPP.

Adaptive Assessments

The assessments are “adaptive” in that they take into account the student’s correct or incorrect answers to generate succeeding questions. These assessments move beyond multiple choice, and include performance tasks that require complex written responses. For these reasons, the CAASPP are designed to provide a more complete understanding of student knowledge and critical thinking skills for college and career readiness.

Piedmont Students Perform Superbly

Superintendent Booker commented, “Piedmont’s students continue to demonstrate a remarkable level of academic excellence. I am extremely proud of their efforts, as well as the extraordinary teaching and support found across the District.”

The Results

The following charts provide overall CAASPP results for Piedmont Unified as well as other unified school districts that are historically comparable to Piedmont Unified. The values indicate the percentage of test-takers (grades 3-8, 11) who either “met” or “exceeded” the Common Core Standards in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.

Unified (K-12) School District	English Language Arts/Literacy: Standard Exceeded/Met	Mathematics: Standard Exceeded/Met
Piedmont Unified	87% #1 in Northern California #3 in the state	87% #1 in Northern California tied for #1 in the state
Albany Unified	77%	73%
Arcadia Unified	77%	77%
Berkeley Unified	62%	58%
Dublin Unified	79%	73%
Fremont Unified	75%	71%
Irvine Unified	79%	75%
La Cañada Unified	88%	84%
Laguna Beach Unified	82%	70%
Los Alamitos Unified	81%	72%
Manhattan Beach Unified	82%	73%
Oak Park Unified	79%	73%
Palo Alto Unified	83%	84%
Palos Verdes Unified	80%	74%
Pleasanton Unified	81%	76%
San Marino Unified	90%	87%
San Ramon Unified	82%	76%
South Pasadena Unified	81%	78%
Alameda County	55%	46%
California	44%	33%

How CAASPP Scores Are Used

Like class assignments and report cards, the new assessments are one gauge of student progress, providing information to schools, teachers, and parents about how students perform relative to California’s goals for both learning and college and career readiness. These results will be used as one of several means to determine and meet student needs, and guide discussions among parents and teachers. Also, the scores will be used as a baseline for the progress teachers expect students to make over time.

Read the full Press Release HERE. The public can access all results at http://caaspp.cde.ca.gov.