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California STAR Test Scores Rise For 9th Straight Year

SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) -- Despite deep cuts to public education, California's standardized test scores have gone up for the ninth year in a row.

The state Department of Education on Monday reported results for the 4.7 million students who participated in the 2011 Standardized Testing and Reporting Program.

The STAR test results show that 54 percent of students scored proficient of above in English-language arts and 50 percent reached that level in mathematics.

Officials say those were the highest percentages in both subjects since the STAR program began in 2003, when only 35 percent of students scored proficient or above in each category.

But the data shows continuing disparities in the academic performance of students of different races, with the scores of African-Americans and Latinos trailing far behind those of whites and Asians.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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