LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — As the time for juniors to take the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress is approaching, many students are wondering why these tests are necessary, while teachers are desperate to get their students to try harder on the exams.
Since 2021, Los Alamitos High School’s scores for the CAASPP test have dropped, which impacts both the school’s national ranking and funding.
According to EdSource, Los Alamitos Unified School District 2025 scores reflected that 75.91% of students met or exceeded the state English standard and in math, 64.42% of students met or exceeded the state standard, both of which are a decrease from the previous year. Overall, according to the U.S. News & World Report, LAHS students hold a 47% math proficiency score, 79% reading proficiency and 57% science proficiency.
Admin warned that this has altered the ranking of LAHS, leading to diplomas holding less weight when students apply to college, thereby potentially affecting entry to top universities. According to the U.S. News & World Report, LAHS is ranked 152 amongst California High Schools, 70 in the Los Angeles and California Metro Area High Schools and is placed at 1169 in National Ranking.
“I think that there’s just a disconnect. I think that for years, maybe students haven’t taken it seriously or not taken it seriously, I don’t think they understood why it matters,” said Assistant Principal of Curriculum, Instruction, and Instructional Technology Mrs. Reyes.
To help alter the low scores, the Algebra Two teachers have offered students an incentive of having students’ scores on the math portion of the CAASPP as a final grade. A two on the exam would be a 75%, a three would be an 85% and a 4 would be a 95%, as well as replacing their lowest test grade with one of these scores.
“I personally will most likely not make use of the incentive as I am trying to get an A on the final and do not think I will exceed the standards,” said junior Elena Predolin.
Colleges don’t look at the testing scores; they aren’t being graded, and for many, it feels like hours of meaningless testing that no one needs to try on. However, some schools like the California Community Colleges and the California State University system may consider these classes when placing students into a college course, or they may use the scores to prove that a student is proficient enough to skip a course, is qualified for a course, or doesn’t require any remediate classes.
LAHS has also added one graduation cord per subject for students who score a three or higher on English, Math and Science. In addition to this, they have also added an assembly that juniors attended in the Griffin Center during their third period classes to learn about the importance of the classes both for themselves and for the school.
Students were emailed a room and a teacher with whom they would take the test with. On Tuesday, periods 1-4 will be testing for math and afterwards, students will go to the Griffin Center for another presentation called Junior Jump, in order to inform them about the college application process and after the fifth period assembly, they will return to regular instruction in their sixth period classes.
The next day will be a minimum day, where students will again spend the whole day testing. In the following days, students will return to a regular schedule and will be completing their science CAST in their science classes and for any junior who doesn’t take a science, they will instead be pulled out of a class on either April first or second to test in the Lecture Hall.
None of these junior schedule changes should impact any freshman, sophomore or senior schedules, unless they’re in a class that is primarily juniors, for example, a sophomore in an Algebra II class, in that case, students will probably have a study period as the class is nearly empty.
Despite how stressful the tests may seem, remember they’re not worth any part of your grade and can only help, not hurt you. Good luck, Griffins!
