About STAR 2002

• California Standards Tests,
• Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, Form T,
• Spanish Assessment of Basic Education, 2nd Edition (SABE/2).

California Standards Tests
The California Standards Tests in English-language arts, mathematics, science, and history-social science are comprised of items that were developed specifically to assess students' performance on California's Academic Content Standards. The State Board of Education adopted these standards that specify what all California children are expected to know and be able to do. The Academic Content Standards are grade or course specific. The 2002 standards tests were required for students who were enrolled in the following grades/courses at the time of testing or who had completed a course during the 2001-2002 school year including 2001 summer school.

The California English-language arts standards scores are based on 75 questions for grades 2 and 3, 90 questions for grades 5, 6 and 8-11, and 98 points for grades 4 and 7. For all grades the California English Language Arts Standards Tests have 35 questions. An additional 40 questions for grades 2 and 3 and 55 questions for grades 4 - 11 are taken from the Stanford 9 reading and language tests. Stanford 9 spelling test questions are also used in grades 2 - 8. Language arts experts matched the Stanford 9 questions to California's Academic Content Standards and selected the specific questions to be used as part of the standards-based scores for each grade.

During 2002, Grade 4 and 7 California Writing Standards Tests were administered for the second year. Students were given 60 minutes to write an essay in response to an assigned topic. Grade-4 students wrote a narrative essay. Grade-7 students wrote a persuasive essay or letter. The types of writing used for the test change from year-to-year and are based on California's writing application Content Standards. Grade-4 students may be required to write a narrative, a summary of information or a response to literature. Grade-7 students may be required to write a fictional or autobiographical narrative, a response to literature, a persuasive essay, or a summary of information. The students' papers are scored independently by two readers using a 4-point scoring guide. The two readers' scores are added to the 90 multiple-choice questions, resulting in a maximum score of 98 points for these two grades.

The California Mathematics Standards Tests are grade specific for grades 2 - 7. Each of these tests has 50 standards-based questions. Fifteen (15) Stanford 9 questions are added to the 50 questions to give standards-based scores based on a total of 65 questions (50 + 15). Like language arts, mathematics experts matched the Stanford 9 questions to California's Academic Content Standards and identified the 15 specific questions to be used as Math Foundation Skills for the academic content standards for each grade 2-7. These questions are less rigorous than the standards-based questions on the California Standards Tests.

All of the California Mathematics Standards Tests for grades 8 - 11 were comprised of 65 standards-based questions with no Stanford 9 questions used in the standards-based scores.

• For the 2001-2002 school year, a new test was added, the California General Mathematics Standards Test. All students in grades 8 and 9 who had not yet completed or were not enrolled in discipline specific, standards-based math courses were required to take this test.
• Students in grades 8 - 11 who had completed or were enrolled in discipline specific standards-based math courses took California Mathematics Standards Tests in either Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, or 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year Integrated Mathematics.
• Students in grades 9-11 who completed Algebra II or 3rd Year Integrated Mathematics at any time, including during an earlier grade, before testing began in 2002 were required to take the California High School Mathematics Standards Test. This was a change from 2001 when this test was only given to grade-11 students and was called the Grade 11 Mathematics Standards Test.

Students in grades 9-11 also took California Science and History-Social Science Standards Tests. These tests were comprised of California specific items with no Stanford 9 questions used in calculating the standards-based scores. All students in grades 9 - 11 were required to take the grade-specific History-Social Science Tests regardless of the courses completed. These tests were:

• Grade 9 cumulative test assessing academic content standards from grades 4 - 8
• Grade 10 World History
• Grade 11 United States History

The science tests for grades 9 - 11 were based on course specific standards. Only grade 9 - 11 students who were enrolled in or completed a standards-based laboratory-based science course took a test. The tests were administered for the following standards-based courses:

• Earth Science
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Integrated Science (4 forms)
  • Earth Science, Biology, and Chemistry
  • Earth Science, Biology, and Physics
  • Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics
  • Biology, Chemistry, and Physics

Teachers of integrated science courses were asked to use the test blueprints and select the Integrated Science Test that most closely matched their course content.

Beginning with the 2002 results, the California Standards Test scores will comprise the majority of the calculation for each school's Academic Performance Index (API).

For further information about the California Standards Test scores, go to About the STAR 2002 Internet Scores .

Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, Form T
In November 1997, the State Board of Education designated the Stanford 9 published by Harcourt Educational Measurement as the STAR Program's achievement test. The test was first administered to all California students during spring 1998 and has been administered each spring since then. Spring 2002 is the last administration of this test as part of the STAR Program. It will be replaced with the California Achievement Test, Sixth Edition (CAT/6) for the 2003 program. The Stanford 9 is a national norm-referenced achievement test, and the test questions and scoring are the same from year-to-year. Therefore, results from the 2002 administration may be compared with the results from any of the previous four years. For information on making year-to-year comparisons, see Comparing Scores . Stanford 9 results are used for calculating each school's API. The API calculations do not use the Stanford 9 results exactly as they are posted on the Internet, therefore, caution is advised in comparing a school's Stanford 9 results over time against a school's API. See api.cde.ca.gov/ for information about the API.

Students in grades 2 - 11 are tested in reading, language (written expression) and mathematics. Students in grades 2 - 8 are also tested in spelling, and students in grades 9 - 11 are tested in science and social science. The purpose of the Stanford 9 is to determine how well each California student is achieving academically compared to a national sample of students tested in the same grade at the same time of the school year.

Spanish Assessment of Basic Education, 2^nd Edition (SABE/2)
The SABE/2, published by CTB/McGraw-Hill is a nationally norm-referenced achievement test in Spanish. The test battery includes tests of Spanish reading, language, and spelling, as well as mathematics tests in Spanish. Spanish-speaking English learners (limited-English proficient students) who had been enrolled in California public schools less than 12 months when testing began were required to take the SABE/2 in addition to taking the California Standards and Stanford 9 Tests. Districts had the option of administering the test to Spanish-speaking English learners who had been in California public schools 12 months or more.