I am a parent of a sophomore at Berkeley High School, and I teach the AP 
Computer Science class at the school.  I recently analyzed the spring 1999 
Berkeley High School STAR test results for three ethnic groups, and I thought 
many of you might be interested in the results.

In reading, 27% of BHS African American students scored at or above the 
national average.  Results for other local schools, school districts, Alameda 
county, and the state were as follows:
   31%  James Logan High School
   27%  Berkeley High School
   22%  Alameda City Unified
   20%  San Francisco Unified
   20%  Mt. Diablo Unified
   19%  State of California
   18%  Alameda County
   17%  El Cerrito High School
   14%  Oakland Unified

In math, 43% of BHS African American students scored at or above the national 
average.  Results for other local schools, school districts, Alameda county, 
and the state were as follows:
   43%  Berkeley High School
   37%  James Logan High School
   31%  Mt. Diablo Unified
   27%  Alameda City Unified
   26%  San Francisco Unified
   25%  Alameda County
   24%  El Cerrito High School
   24%  State of California
   19%  Oakland Unified

In reading, 32% of BHS Hispanic Latino students scored at or above the 
national average.  Results for other local schools, school districts, Alameda 
county, and the state were as follows:
   32%  Berkeley High School
   27%  James Logan High School
   24%  San Francisco Unified
   23%  Alameda City Unified
   21%  Alameda County
   21%  Mt. Diablo Unified
   16%  State of California
   14%  Oakland Unified

In math, 50% of BHS Hispanic Latino students scored at or above the national 
average.  Results for other local schools, school districts, Alameda county, 
and the state were as follows:
   50%  Berkeley High School
   40%  James Logan High School
   37%  Mt. Diablo Unified
   34%  San Francisco Unified
   33%  Alameda County
   31%  Alameda City Unified
   27%  State of California
   25%  Oakland Unified

In reading, 87% of BHS White students scored at or above the national 
average.  Results for other local schools, school districts, Alameda county, 
and the state were as follows:
   88%  Piedmont City Unified
   87%  Berkeley High School
   79%  Albany City Unified
   78%  Acalanes Unified
   71%  San Ramon Valley Unified
   65%  San Francisco Unified
   60%  Oakland Unified
   59%  El Cerrito High School
   58%  Alameda County
   53%  Mt. Diablo Unified
   53%  Alameda City Unified
   52%  State of California
   48% James Logan High School

In math, 91% of BHS White students scored at or above the national average.  
Results for other local schools, school districts, Alameda county, and the 
state were as follows:
   91%  Berkeley High School
   91%  Piedmont City Unified
   87%  Albany City Unified
   83%  Acalanes Unified
   82%  San Ramon Valley Unified
   73%  San Francisco Unified
   67%  Alameda County
   65%  Mt. Diablo Unified
   64%  Oakland Unified
   64%  El Cerrito High School
   61%  James Logan High School
   61%  State of California
   60%  Alameda City Unified

The above figures were based on averaging the "% Scoring At or Above 50th NPR 
(National Percentile Rank)" for grades 9, 10, and 11 (ex, 49% for 9th grade, 
47% for 10th grade, and 54% for 11th grade averaged to 50%).  All of this 
data is publicly available on the California Department of Education?s web 
site at "http://207.87.22.181/STAR".

These spring 1999 Berkeley High School STAR test results are encouraging.  
Our results were among the best for every ethnic group.  This level of 
performance reflects the commitment and hard work of teachers, 
administrators, students, and parents.  Hopefully, these results will help 
inspire us to find better ways to work together to significantly reduce the 
number of students scoring below average and to assure all students are 
challenged.

     Peter Bloomsburgh
     peterbloom@aol.com