How do teachers and schools use state test results?
The results help school districts and schools identify strengths and weaknesses in educational programs, determine teaching strategies that could better address needs of students and decide how to use funds to help students meet the state standards. Some teachers and schools use STAR scores to offer students tutoring, academic interventions or other special programs. Teachers sometimes meet with students to discuss how they can improve their scores. A school district may use test results with other information about student achievement to decide to promote or retain a student. But test scores by themselves are not supposed to be used to make decisions about promotion or retention. How does the government use test results? Test results are used to monitor each school’s progress toward its academic goals. STAR Program results are used to calculate each school’s Academic Performance Index (API), a major component of California’s Public School Accountability Act. The API is used to rank th
