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From the Desk of Bill Cirone...
May 26, 2000
County Students Do Well
The latest round of scores for the Winter 2000 Golden State Exams have been released, and once again there are hundreds of students who have earned academic distinction and brought honor to themselves and their community. Congratulations go to the Santa Barbara County students who received 1148 merit rankings on the Golden State Exams in five subject areas.
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 economics, high school math, government/civics, written composition, and reading/literature.
By participating in the Golden State Exams, many students are working toward eligibility to receive the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma. It recognizes high school graduates who attain high honors, honors, or recognition on six Golden State Exams during their school careers. To date, more than 9,000 Golden State Diplomas have been awarded. So far this year, an additional 1,094 seniors have qualified for the 2000 Golden State Diploma statewide.
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.
Countywide in this last round of testing, more than 38 percent of all students who took all the exams earned one of the three merit recognitions.
Students taking the reading/literature exam scored the best on this round of tests, with 59 percent earning a merit ranking – 325 out of the 551 students who took the test. Students taking the written composition exam also fared well, with 495 receiving merit rankings out of 1189 who took the exam, for 41 percent.
Of the 533 students who took the exam in government/civics, 125 – or nearly a quarter – earned recognition. In economics, 156 of the 468 students who took the test earned recognition. The lowest performance area was high school math. But even in that area, 47 of the 302 students who took the exam earned merit rankings.
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 students: peer pressure to experiment with drugs and mature relationships; worries about violence and safety; an advertising and entertainment industry that stresses instant gratification; restricted resources at the school site that often translates into fewer counselors and larger 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 achievement on 1148 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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