Building on the momentum of a successful start to the new school year, Hollister School District announced another year of progress for local K–8 students.
District students in 2016-17 exceeded the state’s assessment standards by 14 percent in English language arts and by 23 percent in mathematics.
“Our focus is 100 percent on building an extraordinary learning environment in Hollister neighborhood schools. We are thrilled to see that our approach is working and that student achievement is on the rise,” said Superintendent Lisa Andrew, Ed.D.
There are about 5,500 students in the Hollister School District.
Last year marked the third year of California’s new statewide student assessment system—California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, which replaced the previous Standardized Testing and Reporting system. The new system’s main component is the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment, which is based on a growth model that allows the California Department of Education to produce growth comparisons that can track students’ progress through grade levels over time.
“This is really good news for us because the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments are very different from the old California Standards Test—in a good way—so it’s doubly good
to see that our students are improving according to the new more rigorous and realistic
assessment system,” said Andrews. “I am heartened to hear from so many members of our education community that they are all-in with us in this journey to build on the successes of last year and accelerate student achievement as we start this new school year.”
Examples of notable growth comparisons for Hollister K–8 students include:
- 5th grade students in the Hollister School District are improving at over double the rate in English language arts and mathematics as their peers in the county and triple the rate of their state peers.
- 6th and 8th grade students in the Hollister School District are improving at almost triple the rate in English language arts and over double the rate in mathematics as their peers in the county and state.
- The percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards grew in 6th and 8th grade in English language arts at every school site and in 4th grade at seven of the district’s eight schools.
- The percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards grew in 4th and 6th grade in mathematics at every school.
- The percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards grew at every grade level, in both English language arts and mathematics at Ladd Lane School.
- For the third year in a row, every 5th, 7th, and 8th grade student met or exceeded standards in English language arts at the Accelerated Achievement Academy.
