TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

KHSD officials are convinced including California Standards Tests scores on student transcripts will pressure them into trying harder so they've created a system to boost scores on the annual exam.

"We can say to the students, 'These scores are going to be on your transcripts.' Hopefully that will have some meaning to them," said KHSD spokesman John Teves.

Students haven't tried as hard as they might on the annual "CST" or "STAR" tests because the scores don't affect whether they graduate, and colleges don't consider them for admissions. But the scores are critically important to the district, because they help measure achievement on state standards and are a key part of a score used in ranking schools.

"Kids and parents have been told, and hopefully it will be an incentive to students," said Centennial High Principal Steve Wedel.

But the state frowns on including CST scores on student transcripts because the tests "aren't for students," said John Boivin, a STAR program administrator with the Department of Education. "Using results on transcripts, from our perspective, is not appropriate."

"The purpose is to get a clear baseline in the spring where students are, with no preparation," Boivin said.

The Kern High School District developed a dual transcript policy, where CST scores will go on a student's internal transcript, but the district will send separate transcripts without the CST scores to colleges that request them. The district did not say how much keeping the additional transcript would cost.

The state favors giving the test without an incentive with "adequate preparation," but other school districts have created incentives for the test, Boivin allowed.

The decision to add scores to transcripts was made by the Principals Advisory Committee, which includes all the district principals and the superintendent, Teves said. When it made the decision earlier this year, the committee "generally believed that a number of districts have opted for this type of motivation," he said.

"It's a good idea to have them on the transcript, and it should be a good reflection of what a student has done," said Bakersfield High Principal David Reese, adding the tests have brought up a "paradox of school accountability versus the students not being accountable."

Each quarter students take "benchmark" exams to prepare for the 14 CST tests in the spring. They study everything from literary genres to algebra logarithms to immune responses.

The benchmarks are based on old test questions, and are designed to mirror the material on the CST tests. But more importantly they help teachers and administrators accurately gauge how well students are grasping material they're learning at the moment.

Teachers in the district are released one hour per week to meet and discuss student results, and work together on ways to better teach the material.

This year Centennial is running an after-school program for low-scoring students to prep them in subject areas where they need help.

Sport drinks and granola bars are available, and every Thursday they get pizza and drinks if they show up to study.

"Our responsibility is to increase learning for all the students, and here, we're finding the weakest kids to make them more successful," said Wedel.

More importantly, if the high school is doing a good job teaching the standards all year long, and the teachers are discussing the benchmark data, the kids naturally should be doing better on the CSTs, Wedel said.