By SARAH DOOLITTLE, Four Points News

All Four Points schools received the “met standard” classification for the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness or STAAR test results, and all exceeded state accountability ratings for 2014. Nearly all schools, with the exception of Grandview Hills Elementary, also exceeded Leander ISD averages.

Furthermore, several Four Points schools were given “distinction designations” for their above and beyond performance: Laura Bush and River Place elementaries, Canyon Ridge and Four Points middle and Vandegrift high schools.

Elementary, middle schools
Texas elementary and middle school students overall percentage for performance on the STAAR test in 2014 was 77 percent. (This is a sum of all grades and subjects tested.) The percentage for LISD students was 87 percent, a full 10 percentage points higher.

River Ridge and Laura Bush led the pack of elementary schools with an overall score of 94 percent. Steiner Ranch was right behind at 93 percent. River Place scored a 91 percent, while Grandview Hills received an 85 percent, still well above the state average but two percentage points behind the district.

Canyon Ridge Middle School students received an overall score of 98 percent, and Four Points scored 95 percent.

Vandegrift scores high

At nearly 20 percentage points above the State average of 77 percent, Vandegrift students earned a 96 percent average.

Also of note at Vandegrift, the annual dropout rate for 2013 was a mere 0.2 percent, compared to the State average of 2.2 percent and District rate of 0.4 percent.

Additionally, 91.2 percent of the class of 2013 took the SAT or ACT college preparatory tests, compared with 63.8 percent of students in Texas and 74.4 percent in LISD. As reported by the Four Points News in December of 2013, students also performed above state, local and national averages on these tests.

What does the STAAR measure?

STAAR tests measure student performance in a variety of subjects depending on a student’s grade. Students in grades 3-8, for example, are all tested in reading and math. Writing is tested in grades 4 and 7, science in 5 and 8, and social studies in 8th grade.

High schoolers are tested by subject at the end of the year during which the subject was studied. High school students must be proficient in English I, II and III, Algebra I and II,  geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, world geography, world and U.S. history.

The STAAR test has been in use only since 2013. It replaced the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills or TAKS that was phased out in 2011 with the intention that students in grades 9-11 take end-of-course tests instead of general skills assessments.

The STAAR test is estimated to cost $90 million to administer in the state of Texas, or about $3 to $7 per student.