Recent test results show that more than half of Santa Barbara Unified School District elementary students failed to meet grade-level standards in reading and math. Some school board members are calling for more individualized interventions to improve scores.  

The Santa Barbara school board on Tuesday reviewed results from fall Star Renaissance Assessments, which assess early literacy, reading and math at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. The results help educators determine what students need to focus on before the end of the school year.

Reflecting on the results, board member Dr. Sunita Beall noted that the district should look at specific schools and classrooms to find areas of improvement to see if certain teachers or classes need more specialized support. 

“I do think it is the job of the principals and the district admin overseeing this and looking at this data given to them and saying, do we have an issue, do we need more interventions, is there a school having more trouble than the rest of the schools, is it a population thing?” Beall asked. “If we aren’t overseeing our education and individualizing our district for what it needs, then we’re not doing what we need to do to get students where they need to be.”

The Star Assessment results for elementary students primarily focus on second- through sixth graders because first-graders start by taking an early literacy test and then move on to the Star Reading test as their literacy skills progress. This year, only 30 first-graders took the Star Reading assessment. 

This semester, 42% of first- through sixth-graders who took the Star reading test met or exceeded grade-level standards. Meanwhile, 1,233 did not meet or nearly met grade-level standards in reading. 

That is consistent with last year’s cohort of elementary students who had 40% of students meeting or exceeding Star Reading standards in the fall assessment. 

Fourth-graders had the highest scores with 47% meeting or exceeding grade-level standards. Fifth- and sixth-graders saw slightly lower scores with 42% of fifth-graders meeting or exceeding grade-level standards and 40% of sixth-graders meeting or exceeding grade-level standards. 

In math, 35% of elementary students who tested met or exceeded grade-level standards. Fourth-graders again saw the highest scores with 45% meeting or exceeding grade-level standards. Fifth grade had the lowest scores with only 27% meeting or exceeding grade-level standards. 

That is slightly higher than last year’s cohort of elementary students, which had 30% meet or exceed math standards in the fall Star math assessment.

Board member Bill Banning said they’re starting in an important place but that they need to focus on how they can continue to see growth, adding that they should give the current system a chance to really see what change is happening and what groups are growing.

He also noted that there is a human aspect to the results and that it’s not just about the numbers. 

“There’s humanity involved here — there are kids, there are teachers, there are attitudes, there are moods. There’s all this kind of stuff that comes in, and it’s complicated by demographic differences from school to school and wealth,” Banning said. 

In general, the board members agreed that they didn’t just want to focus on what the numbers are but what methods of teaching are working for students and helping groups improve scores.  

Board member Gabe Escobedo asked that the board be given more information to understand what work is being done to improve grades and to let them know what has and hasn’t worked at different school sites.

He also said the district should have some specific goals toward individual school growth using specific methods and strategies

“We’ve only been doing Star testing for a couple years, but I’m projecting out 10 years from now and being able to disaggregate the data by school site and saying are the interventions at this school site, over a long period of time,” Escobedo said. “The longer that we continue to test, the more longitudinal data that we’ll have to be able to make far more informed decisions.”

The district has been conducting Start Assessments for at least 10 years.

In general, board members agreed that they didn’t just want to focus on what the numbers are but what methods of teaching are working for students and helping groups improve scores.  

“What I’d like to hear is a narrative and a story that we can tell the community and say this is what we’re doing and this is how it’s helping,” Banning said. 

He added that they need to be looking at what’s working rather than just what the numbers are, and then district staff can look at why specific methods are working for certain students and what areas need improvement. 

“What we’re looking for is a narrative — a novel instead of an encyclopedia,” Banning said.  

Students will be taking these tests again in the winter and at the end of the school year to track growth and progress.