Students in the William S. Hart Union High School District scored higher than both the county and state averages in the most recent California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), according to results released Monday.

The California Department of Education recently released the student performance results for the CAASPP for the 2018-2019 school year, which showed that students in the William S. Hart Union High School District are “continuing to outpace their peers county- and state-wide,” according to an official statement from the district 

“Even though our numbers have only slightly increased, they are impressive, especially compared to county and state scores,” said David LeBarron, director of curriculum and assessment for the Hart District.

In the spring of 2019, Hart District officials estimate that approximately 10,500 students in the 7th, 8th and 11th grades took the test throughout the district. The results can be seen below:

All of the Hart School District’s subgroups outperformed their county peers in both the English language arts and mathematics assessments, as indicated by the data released by the California Department of Education. 

“Hart District students do 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.” 

The CAASPP is the state’s annual academic assessment program, which measures how well students have mastered the state of California’s English language arts and mathematics standards, according to officials.

“We take it very seriously,” LeBarron said. “Our students’ performance on the state assessments is a measure we use to evaluate our instructional programs.”

Student scores on the CAASPP tests fall into one of four performance levels, including standard not met, standard nearly met, standard met and standard exceeded. The goal for teachers and 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,” according to Monday’s statement.

However, LeBarron noted that CAASPP scores are “only one piece of the assessment picture.”

“Our goal is not to improve test scores on the CAASPP,” LeBarron said. “Our goal is to be sure that our students are well educated and challenged to their highest ability level, and as a result, they do perform well on the annual state assessments.”

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.