Dear Alexander Valley School Family;

We are very pleased to be sending out the results of this past spring’s STAR testing (the California Standards Tests (CST) or the California Modified Assessment (CMA) for students with IEP’s in grades 2-6).  The teachers and staff of AVS have worked diligently, as have the students and parents, and we continue to see great results!

All students in grades 2-6 took either the CST; a selected series of questions designed to measure a child’s mastery of the California State Content Standards, or the CMA; an assessment that measures mastery of these same California State Content Standards, although in a simplified format (other than the modified format, the CMA is equivalent to the CST). Our district goal is to have 80% of all children score at the “proficient” or “advanced” level on these assessments by the 2011-2012 school year, and 90% by the 2014-15 school year. This past year, 78% of all students scored “advanced” or “proficient” in English/Language Arts (an improvement of 9%), and 90% scored “advanced” or “proficient” in mathematics (up by 10%). We are very pleased.

Finally, all reports also include a “California Reading List Number,” Which correlates to your child’s reading scores.  It can guide you to a list of books appropriate for your child’s skills as shown on this test.  The California Reading List can be found at California Reading LIst on the Internet, or viewed here at school.

The results for Sonoma County and for the State of California will be available on the Internet at http://star.cde.ca.gov.  The teachers and I will be using this information to continue to improve and refine our instructional program here at AVS.

It is important to keep in mind that these results are only one part of the complex picture of your child’s achievement.  They should be considered along with in-class assessments that are conducted during the school year, as well as with their day-to-day work.  Please, be sure to call your child’s teacher or me if you have any questions.

Thanks.

Bob Raines

Superintendent-Principal