The latest state test results show continuing improvements by students citywide, though tough new federal standards will be a challenge for the district in coming years.

The 2003 California Standardized Testing and Reporting results, or STAR test, released Friday, showed progress almost across the board in both a decreasing percent of students who score "far below basic" and an increasing number of students who score "proficient" or "advanced."

A score of "proficient," according to the state department of education, means a student has a "substantial mastery" of that subject. The STAR test is not designed to gauge if a student is performing at grade level in a subject.

The tests are a way to keep school districts accountable to state and federal standards for student performance. If schools continually fail to meet the standards, they risk federal intervention such as replacing school staff or allowing for students to transfer to better performing schools.

In Oakland, the district improved its state scores for the second straight year.

Education analysts said reforms implemented by former superintendent Dennis Chaconas continue to boost student achievement. Yet they also questioned how the district will meet stringent federal standards at a time of state budget cuts.

When measured by the federal Adequate Yearly Progress assessment, the district as a whole -- and many of its schools -- did not pass muster. Oakland middle schools fared the worst on this measure: Five of 20 met the federal standard in English, while just three did so in math.

Experts, though, said the federal guidelines are designed to very ambitious. "I wouldn't want anyone to feel negative about a school that is not meeting its goal yet," said Adam Pelavin, a research assistant at the Palo Alto-based group EdSource, a non-profit, non-partisan education policy organization.

About 20 percent of schools nationwide were not expected to meet the federal standard this year, Pelavin said. The federal goal is that all students nationwide will score at proficient or advanced in math and English by the 2013-14 school year.

The largest gains in Oakland were made in math scores, especially in the lower grades.

In the second and third grade, the district was able to cut the percent of students scoring far below basic by about half. This year, 8 percent of second graders scored "far below basic," compared to 15 percent of students in 2002. Twelve percent of third graders were far below basic in 2003 versus 22 percent in 2002.

For second to seventh graders, the percent of students proficient in math ranged from 12 to 23 percent. Advanced scores for the district's math students ranged from 3 to 16 percent.

English scores improved incrementally. The largest gain was made in the declining percent of students considered far below basic. This year, 17 percent of second graders scored far below basic, versus 24 percent last year; 13 percent of fourth graders scored far below basic versus 20 percent in 2002.

Proficient scores in English for second- to 10th-graders ranged from 10 to 18 percent. Advanced scores ranged from 3 to 9 percent.

In what has been a continuing concern, scores for higher grades lag far behind the lower grades. For example, 40 percent of 11th-graders scored far below basic in English this year, while 49 percent of ninth graders scored far below basic in general math.

Full STAR results can be seen at http://star.cde.ca.gov.

Meeting federal standards

School districts across the state are in the process of aligning their accountability systems with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, put forward by President Bush and passed by Congress in 2001. Wilhelmena Sims, director of the district's department of accountability, said Oakland was refining its procedures to meet the federal standards.

"I'm excited about the movement," Sims said. "I don't want us to get derailed because we're not where we want to be." She called the federal standards "very ambitious," but said "we're moving forward."

The district worked hard to improve the percentage of student who took the state tests, Sims said. Test attendance is one of three measures the federal system uses to assess local school performance.

For a school to meet the federal standard, a certain percentage of its students as a whole and students in every subgroup -- such as ethnic and socioeconomic categories -- must score proficient or above in English and math. For elementary and middle schools, the percents that must be proficient this year are 13.6 for English and 16 for math; for high schools, the percentages are 11.2 and 9.6 respectively.

Under the federal goals, these percentages will be raised yearly until 100 percent of students are scoring proficient or above -- by 2014.

Also, 95 percent of students must take the tests. This is a high bar for urban school districts, Sims said, which typically have lower general attendance rates than suburban districts.

Schools that miss the federal goal two years in a row must implement changes under a program known as "program improvement." This includes offering parents the option to transfer their children to a better performing school. If the schools still do not improve, they must undergo further changes, known as "corrective action," such as making staff changes or introducing new curriculum.

To see if a school met its federal targets, go to http://ayp.cde.ca.gov.

The number of Oakland schools in corrective action is disputed. The state says 16 Oakland elementary schools fall in this category, while the district says nine do.

According to the state, 30 Oakland schools have failed to meet the federal standards for at least two years in a row.

This year, 12 Oakland schools were placed on program improvement. Six schools improved and were taken out of this category.

Budget pressure will certainly be a factor in raising test scores going forward, experts say.

"It's going to be very tough given the state's fiscal situation," said Bruce Fuller, co-director of the group Policy Analysis for California Education, a UC Berkeley-Stanford joint program. Speaking of the federal standards, Fuller said, "It's a high bar, but it also creates a terrible dilemma for school principals because they have shrinking resources."

Not only is state education money being cut, Fuller said, but the federal government is also unwilling to help schools. "That really affects places like Oakland," he said. Plus, the state takeover of Oakland schools has put increased pressure on the bottom line within the district.

Still, Fuller said, the district's students are improving. "Overall, the picture in Oakland is getting brighter. Ironically, the reforms Dennis Chaconas put in place are showing stronger and stronger results."