Grades and Subjects Reported

Most students take the tests used in the STAR Program based on the grades in which they are enrolled. The exceptions are the California Standards Tests for grades 8-11 and the California Science Standards Tests for grades 9-11 that are tied to specific courses students are completing or have completed. Some students with disabilities in grades 5 through 11 may have taken tests up to two grades lower than the grades in which they were enrolled.

The following text and tables describe the subject areas that are tested at each level. Results for all grades and subjects are available for the state and all counties, districts, and schools. Unless a school did not administer one or more of the required tests, viewers should expect to see results for all of the required California Standards Tests and CAT/6 for every grade served within a school or district. CAPA and SABE/2 results should be available for all districts but may not be available for all schools based on student populations.

California Standards Tests
California Standards Test scores are reported for the following:

• English-Language Arts for Grades 2 through 11
  • All students in grades 2 through 11 were required to take English-language arts standards tests.
  • As part of the English-language arts standards tests at grades 4 and 7, students wrote essays in response to an assigned topic. Students' essay scores were included in their overall English-language arts standards scores at these grades. Separate scores are not reported for the writing portion of the Grade 4 and 7 California English Language Arts Standards Tests.
  
  
• Mathematics for Grades 2 through 11
  • All students in grades 2 through 9 were required to take mathematics standards tests.
  • Except for the California General Mathematics Standards Test and the California High School Summative Mathematics Standards Test, the California Mathematics Standards Tests for grades 8 through 11 were specific to courses that students in these grades had completed or were completing during the 2002-2003 school year.
  • The California General Mathematics Standards Test was administered to all students in grades 8 and 9 who were not yet ready to take algebra I or who were in the first year of a two year algebra I course. This test assessed the mathematics academic content standards for grades 6 and 7. Students who took this test were not in mathematics courses designated for their grade. The High School Summative Mathematics Standards Test was administered to students in grades 9 through 11 who had completed Algebra II or 3rd Year Integrated Mathematics before the spring 2003 test administration. This included students taking advanced mathematics courses such as calculus. Students in grades 9 and 10 took the High School Summative Mathematics Standards Test if they had completed Algebra II or Integrated Math 3 during a previous grade. Grade 11 students took the test if they completed Algebra II or Integrated Math 3 anytime before the test was administered including during grade 11.
     
• Science for Grades 9 through 11
  • All students enrolled in standards-based science courses in grades 9 through 11 were required to take the California Science Standards Tests specific to courses the students had completed or were completing during the 2002-2003 school year.
  • During spring 2003, grade 5 students took sets of science questions being developed for a grade 5 science test that will be administered beginning in spring 2004. No grade 5 science scores are reported for spring 2003.
  
  
• History-Social Science for Grades 8, 10, and 11
  • All students in grades 8, 10, and 11 were required to take California History-Social Science Standards Tests for their grade levels.

* Mathematics Tests for Grades 8 through 11 include Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, 1st Year Integrated Math, 2nd Year Integrated Math, and 3rd Year Integrated Math. Students in grades 8 and 9 who are not yet completing algebra I take a General Math Test, and students in grades 9 through 11 take a High School Summative Mathematics Test after completing Algebra II, 3rd Year Integrated Math or a higher math course.

** Science tests include Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and four Integrated science tests (Integrated Science 1, 2, 3, and 4) each of which include questions related to all four science disciplines.

§ Grade 5 students completed sets of questions being developed for a grade 5 science test that will be administered in spring 2004.

CAPA
CAPA results are reported for English language arts and mathematics at each grade level on the state report. Due to the small number of participants; county, district and school results are reported by the CAPA level with each level encompassing two or more grade levels.

CAT/6
CAT/6 scores are reported for all subjects tested at each grade level. These include reading, mathematics, and language for grades 2 - 11, plus spelling for grades 2 - 8, and science for grades 9 - 11.

SABE/2
For grades 2 through 8 SABE/2 scores are reported for reading, language, mathematics, and spelling. For grades 9 - 11 scores are reported for reading, language, and mathematics.