By Sara Ballenger

Tenth-graders in the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District showed the most improvement districtwide in test scores on the 2001 Standardized Testing and Recording (STAR) examination, according to results released by the California Department of Education, Aug. 15.

The STAR test scores are based on national norms using the 50th percentile as the average. The test is a standardized state test used to evaluate California schools.

“We are still analyzing results. We seem to compare well with the schools around us,” said Superintendent Rich Fischer. “We do very well with the state and national average. We are always above those.”

The district focused its attention this year on improving scores at the 10th-grade level, which are usually low, and it seems to have worked, said Brigitta Sarraf, associate superintendent of educational services.

“Our scores were very poor last year,” Sarraf said. “We looked at test scores all across the 10th grade and they were depressed compared to other grades.”

Test scores for the other grades have averaged out, Fischer said.

“We went above the state and national average and we feel OK about it,” he said. “We are always looking to see how we can improve.”

The district made an effort to make sure students had access to the standards and a chance to talk about the importance of the test, Sarraf said.

“So many variables go into the final results,” Sarraf said. “We hope our test scores have gone up as a result of our efforts.”

For a statewide list of STAR test scores, including information on other local districts, visit the California Department of Education’s Web site at www.cde.ca.gov/.