California Standards Test Results

OSSF Schools Make Great Strides in ELA and Math

The Oakland Small Schools Foundation is proud to report that OSSF-network schools’ California Standards Test (CST) growth outpaced district and state averages in 2008-09. The results reflect remarkable improvement for many of our schools in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math.

The CST ranks students along a scale of “Far Below Basic” to “Advanced.” School and district leaders look closely at the number of kids moving out of the “Far Below Basic” and “Below Basic” rungs, and at how many move into the “Proficient” and “Advanced” tiers. OSSF works closely with 32 schools to provide resources development and capacity-building support. Compared to last year’s results:

• 28 of those 32 schools saw significant numbers of students move into the “Proficient” and “Advanced” range in both ELA and Math.

• 26 schools moved significant numbers of students out of “Below Basic” levels in Math, and 25 did so in ELA.

• Across OSSF’s 10-school After-School Collaborative (see page 3 of the newsletter), 10 percent more students scored “Proficient” or “Advanced” in Math, and 7 percent more are “Proficient” or “Advanced” in ELA.

• One of our client schools, Learning Without Limits, moved more students out of “Below Basic” than any other elementary school in Oakland.

“OSSF is proud to be doing its part to move Oakland Unified forward and help develop great and ever-improving schools for all kids in our city,” says Executive Director Holly Babe Faust. Oakland Unified is the most improved large (20,000 students or more) urban school district in the state of California over the last five years. To view a chart of scores for specific schools in our network, click here. OSSF congratulates the young readers, writers, scientists, and mathematicians in its network of schools!

If you'd like to read our CST press release, click here.