Last year’s STAR test results contributed to a four point increase in Gunn’s Academic Performance Index (API) to 881 points. However, the juniors’ and sophomores’ API dropped an average of 70 points, while the freshmen API rose by a large margin. “Overall, juniors actually didn’t do as well as we would have liked,” Principal Noreen Likins said. “Juniors and sophomores last year dropped around 70 points.”

The drop in scores may be linked to the fact that many juniors and sophomores take the test lightly. Additionally, Juniors have to deal with taking many tests in the spring time including APs and the SAT. The administration last year held off the test until the last week of the allocated time period allowed for STAR testing.

“It’s certainly a valid argument that juniors have other things to do,” Likins said. “However, last year we nullified the argument because we arranged for STAR testing when most APs for juniors were already over.”

Though there could be repercussions for low scoring, Gunn has continually scored much higher than any state guidelines. “Gunn students have always scored very high on the STAR test,” test supervisor Kim Cowell said.“The only thing we need to look after is that there might not be enough students in each group participating in the test, which could also lead to cuts in funding.”