Laguna's Four Public Schools Get Prepped for Standardized Testing

With California Standards Tests approaching in May, you might expect to find Laguna Beach public school classrooms lined with students hastily flipping through practice booklets and bubbling away at Scantron cards. But it turns out, the is confident that its current academic program alone is enough to prepare its students—and remain one of the most highly-ranked school districts in Orange County.

“For LBUSD, it’s not about the ‘test prep,’” Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services Nancy Hubbell told Laguna Beach Patch. “It’s about sustained focus on student learning throughout the school year.”

An Academic Performance Index (API) report for 2010 showed that all four of Laguna’s schools were over the state target of 800, and had climbed from an 874 to 894 average throughout the district.

, which rose 19 points last year to obtain a score of 898, continues to focus on core curriculum in Language Arts, Math and Science, says Principal Chris Duddy. He says the school is prepping some kids for multiple-choice tests, especially the younger grades that aren’t used to this method of test taking.

“We don’t want these students to be surprised when they see lots of multiple choice questions with four choices, so we are conducting some test prep activities to prepare them for that,” he says.

Raking in 916 points from its prior 906 in 2009, Principal Ron LaMotte said his teachers are focusing on “testing strategies” in addition to their already rigorous instructional program.

“We are confident that our academic program is thorough, so if we maintain our instructional program, our students are well prepared for the testing,” he says. “We feel that if our students understand how to take standardized tests, they are then able to perform their best and feel good about their accomplishments.”

has shown continuous improvement in its API scores, says Principal Joanne Culverhouse, breaking the 900-level last year for the first time.

Thurston teachers consistently rely on best first instruction in the classroom throughout the year, she says, which is part of the RtI (Response to Instruction and Intervention) model that caters to individual student needs from the onset of the school year by assessing their academic placement in each subject and tracking progress.

“As we approach May, we just continue to focus on the standards and current best practices,” says Culverhouse.

, which has also experienced significant API growth in the past few years, said it also relies on day-to-day practices to best prepare its students.

“We believe that the best test preparation is still best first instruction and an alignment of curriculum to the California State Standards,” Principal Don Austin says.

"And we have recently devoted more attention to the integration of SAT and ACT writing prompts, since 90 percent of our students will immediately enroll in college. Our commitment to college and career readiness is taking us more in the direction of preparation for high-stakes college admissions tests, including the Early Assessment Program (EAP) test for the Cal State system, and SAT, PSAT and ACT.

“We don’t believe that preparing for the meaningful college exams will detract from the STAR testing system," Austin concludes.