L.B. District Gets Serious About Improving State Scores : Here’s a Test to Help Students Take Tests

Students in Darry Patten’s electronics class at Lakewood High School walked into third period Wednesday expecting to hear a lecture on printed circuit fabrication. Instead, they took a 35-minute test on reading, language, spelling and math.

“I did pretty well,” said Jason Meyers, when it was all over. “I’ve covered all the stuff before.”

Added Ron Magni: “A test is a test. It was no big deal.”

In fact, this particular test was a big deal in several respects. For one thing, more than 13,000 teen-agers--virtually every high school student attending class that day in the Long Beach Unified School District--took the same test at precisely the same time. For another, no one but them will ever see the results. And for a third, they will be discussing those results for at least the next four Wednesdays.

“It will be very good for the kids.” said Patten, a teacher in the district for 28 years. “I haven’t seen anything like this since I was in graduate school.”

First Serious Attempt

Welcome to the Learning Assessment Program (LAP), the district’s first serious attempt to improve its students’ standardized test scores by schooling them in the technique of taking tests.

According to Hank Garcia, assistant superintendent, secondary division, the program stems from the realization that students in the district have been performing below state averages on standardized tests, particularly one called the California Assessment Program (CAP), for the last three years.

“We’ve come to the recognition that our kids aren’t too good at taking tests,” Garcia said. Although district officials attribute the problem, in part, to a major influx of non-English-speaking students, they decided it was time to give Long Beach students some lessons on how to improve their scores. So by slightly shortening each class period on five consecutive Wednesdays, they created an extra morning session during which third-period teachers are instructed to talk about testing.

“We wanted everyone to be involved,” Garcia said. “These kids will be taking tests all of their lives. It’s an important enough area to become part of our instructional program.”

Competition among California school districts on CAP--which is administered in December to every 3rd, 6th, 8th and 12th-grader in the state--has become particularly fierce since passage of legislation two years ago that awards state “bonus” money to districts that can show improvement in their scores.

In the last year-and-a-half, according to John Plakos, director of the Los Angeles County Evaluation Improvement Center, programs designed to improve the test-taking skills of students have proliferated throughout Southern California.

Every District in County

In fact, Plakos said, his center--an arm of the county Office of Education--has counseled teachers and administrators from virtually every district in the county, including Long Beach, on how to impart such skills.

In some districts, state and county officials say, this has resulted in concerns that teachers are improperly instructing students on how to pass specific tests.

School officials in Long Beach say their program is not financially motivated, nor does it attempt to teach test content. Of the city’s five high schools, according to district spokesman Dick Van der Laan, only two have applied for state money for improved CAP scores. No bonuses have been received. And regarding the teaching itself, Garcia said, it is intended only to focus on specific skills applicable to CAP or any other test-taking situation.

“It’s a course that I think is long overdue in this district,” said Lewis Prilliman, director of research.

After taking the initial mock test--part of a series that cost the district $10,000 to develop--students will spend the next four Wednesdays discussing various ways to improve their performances on it. Specifically, administrators say, they will be coached in such skills as budgeting time during testing, developing confidence to avoid panic, avoiding stray marks on answer sheets, reading directions and asking questions to fully understand the test, and organizing to optimize test performance.

One advantage of the mock test, school officials say, is that it exposes students to the various kinds of questions they are likely to encounter on standardized tests.

“We want them to be graded on what they know rather than on their technical (test-taking) abilities,” Garcia said.

Junior Highs Next

If successful, he said, the program will be continued next semester and eventually expanded to include junior high school students.

At Lakewood High School, it seemed to get off to a fairly well-organized start. “When we first started out, frankly, I thought we would all be teaching a test,” Patten admitted. “At first I was very hesitant.”

Subsequent familiarization with the program material, however, eased his fears, he said. “Now I think it’s a good idea.”

Many students seemed to agree.

‘I think it will be helpful,” said Michelle Andrew,whose 4.0 grade-point average would seem to indicate an already well-developed test-taking ability, although she admitted to being concerned about the upcoming SAT. “I don’t think a lot of students know what they’re doing.”

Added a friend, Patrice Williams,: “Sometimes when you get up there, you freeze. If you have an idea how to work with the test, it makes it easier.”