Panthers roar as API soars

Every year, students and faculty await the arrival of the API scores, a result of the STAR tests taken statewide every May.

This year, Peninsula’s score increased from an 898 to a 907. District wide, the API score grew from 919 to 923.

“Last year’s test data for all standardized tests is proof that despite the negative impact related to the state budget reductions, our teachers, school administrators and support staff have remained focused on student achievement and meeting the needs of the whole child,” Superintendent Walker Williams said via mass email.

Despite the gradual increase of API scores over the years, from an 871 in 2007 to a 907 in 2012, the district must implement new government standards by the 2014-2015 school year.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are focused on testing whether districts are preparing students for college and careers later on.

California and 44 other states have collectively decided to switch to the CCSS.

“The [CCSS] has been in development for several years,” Cress said. “They are national standards that will take effect in 2014.”

The CCSS will provide a clear understanding of what students are supposed to be learning, verifying for teachers and parents what students should know by a certain age.

Teachers and students will be better able to evaluate performances based on a newly designed, more appropriate skill set.

The creators of these standards, the state government not the federal government, are hoping to better help students succeed in the future.

The CCSS will be applied by 2014.

Until that time, Peninsula staff is still focused on increasing the API score.

“My goal is to continue this record of sustained progress,” Cress said.