STAR testing for the 2007-08 school year went by smoothly, according to Paly’s Testing Coordinator Kathie Laurence, who has organized the testing at Paly for eight years.

“There were no big bumps this year, which is good,” Laurence said. “Every year there are some small problems, but I think it went well [this year].”

Next year, Kathy Stotz will be taking over Laurence’s position of putting together the STAR tests.

“Putting together STAR tests is a pretty big deal,” Laurence said. “I’ve been doing it for a long time, and I think it’s time for me to try something new.”

Stotz said she is excited and a little intimidated about her new job next year.

“There are a lot of steps to STAR testing,” Stotz said. “It takes a lot of time and planning.”

Stotz and Laurence both agree however that STAR testing is very important to Paly.

“Taking the STAR test and doing your best is really good for the Paly community,” Laurence said. “Really, everyone benefits from Paly scoring well on STAR tests. It has the possibility to make your transcript look better in front of colleges.”

This year, the Paly administration made STAR testing mandatory for those students who want to take AP classes next year. The tests were also given over a 2 day period this year, as opposed to previous years where the tests were spread out over 4 days.

“Everything was done in a new way this year,” Laurence said. “The question is what works better for the kids. I don’t know. We will see when we get the results.”

The decision about the amount of days dedicated to STAR tests next year will be a result of the administration talking to teachers who administered the test and comparing this year’s results to previous years, according to Laurence.

Junior Liza Dernhl says she likes the way the STAR tests were given this year.

“I never liked how it was dragged out over a week,” Dernhl said. “And it was nice getting out early one of the days.”