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From the Desk of Bill Cirone...
January 22, 1999
County students do well on Golden State Exams
Congratulations to the Santa Barbara County students who received 3,021 merit rankings on the Golden State Exams this year.
The rigorous annual state tests were crafted as an incentive and recognition program for students, and they are a credit to individual student achievement in first year algebra, geometry, high school math, U.S. history, economics, government/civics, biology, chemistry, second year coordinated science, written composition, and reading/literature.
Different schools and districts have varying policies regarding which students take the tests. Some invite all students in a given course to try the exam, and others ask only their high achievers to do so. For this reason, school by school and district by district comparisons simply do not apply.
Also, many students have begun working toward the new Golden State Seal Merit Diploma. Authorized by Assembly Bill 3488, the diploma program recognizes high school graduates who have attained merit recognition on six Golden State Exams during their school career. Last year, nearly 1,000 students earned the Golden State Diploma.
Students who do well on the exam qualify for one of three merit rankings: school recognition, honors, or high honors. Countywide, more than 42 percent of all students who took all the exams earned one of the three merit recognitions.
Students taking the written composition, economics, and reading/literature exams scored the best on this round of tests, with 70 percent receiving a merit ranking in composition, 66 percent receiving a merit ranking in economics, and 65 percent in reading/literature. Of the 1290 students who took the geometry exam countywide&emdash;the largest number in any of the subject areas&emdash;1290, or 46 percent, earned recognition. In the exam for second year coordinated science, 49 percent of the test-takers received merit rankings. Percentages were nearly identical in three of the areas: 42 percent of the students taking exams in U.S. history and chemistry earned merit rankings, while 43 percent of those taking exams in biology earned merits. The lowest performance areas were high school math and government/civics. But in both areas more than one out of five students earned merit recognition. In high school math, 366 of the 438 who took the test earned merit recognition and in government/civics, 76 of the 267 students did so.
These are very rigorous exams, and the students who performed well on them should be extremely proud of their achievements. We often talk about the increased pressures on modern-day students: an advertising and entertainment industry that stresses instant gratification; peer pressure to experiment with drugs and mature relationships; restricted resources at the school site that often translates into fewer counselors and large class sizes; different family shapes, sizes, and situations, just to name a few of the changing and sometimes difficult situations confronting young people.
In the face of these pressures, high academic achievements on 3,021 exams is no small feat, and I am certain I join parents, teachers, neighbors and friends in extending hearty congratulations to those who accomplished these successes.
© Santa Barbara County Education Office
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