California Department of Education officials released the results of last year’s standardized tests for English/language arts and math Monday morning.

For math scores, at least half of the cohorts in all three student groups tested also met or exceeded state standards, officials said.

“Even if our numbers had stayed the same, they are impressive, especially compared to county and state scores,” said Dave LeBarron, director of curriculum and assessment for the Hart district.

The goal, according to district officials, is to increase the percentage of students scoring standard met and above, while decreasing the percentage of students who score standard nearly met and below.

In English/language arts, 69 percent of seventh-graders in the Hart district met or exceeded the standard performance level, 66 percent of eighth-graders and 82 percent of 11th-graders. The percentage of Hart district students scoring at the Met Standard or Exceeded Standard performance levels surpassed the percentage of Los Angeles County students by more than 16 percent at the junior highs and more than 24 percent at the high schools.

In mathematics, 53 percent of seventh-graders in the Hart district met or exceeded the standard performance level, 54 percent of eighth-graders and 50 percent of 11th-graders.

The percentage of Hart School District students scoring at the Met Standard or Exceeded Standard performance levels surpassed the percentage of Los Angeles County students by more than 20 percent at both the junior high and high schools.

“Hart District students do very well on state assessments because we place a strong focus on ensuring that our students are taught the state’s academic content standards, which is what the tests assess,” LeBarron said. “Every one of our schools has a professional development plan that focuses on research-based programs that improve student learning.”

Click here to visit the state’s site for test results.

In conjunction with state standards, William S. Hart Union High School District officials tested students last year at the seventh-, eighth- and 11th-grade levels with the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).

The CAASPP is the state’s annual academic assessment program measuring how well students have mastered the Common Core English language arts and mathematics standards which were adopted by the state in 2010, according to Hart district officials.

The scores fall into one of four performance categories: standard not met, standard nearly met, standard met and standard exceeded.

The Hart district oversees more than 22,000 public junior high and high school students in the Santa Clarita Valley.

State officials created a website here to help understand the new scoring system.