S.D. 8th-Graders Follow State Slide in Test Scores

State and local education officials have found another trouble spot to worry them--the junior high schools.

Elementary-school children statewide again scored higher in reading, writing and mathematics this year, according to the annual California Assessment Program test results, released Friday. For more than a decade, third-graders throughout the state have steadily improved in basic skills.

Meanwhile, test scores have also turned strongly upward for high school seniors.

The exception to all the good news is the eighth-grade class.

Statewide scores for eighth-graders fell sharply in reading and writing but inched up one point in math. Eighth-graders registered the only decline in San Diego Unified School District test scores, but it was substantial.

Reading scores for the 7,469 San Diego eighth-graders who took the test dropped from 252 last year to 242 this year. Eighth-grade students around the state had similar difficulty, dropping from 250 last year to 240 this year.

“The fact that it went down 10 is a concern, really,” said Grant Behnke, assistant director of evaluation for the San Diego school district. “Somebody needs to really look into that and find out why that happened.”

In Los Angeles, eighth-grade scores dropped in all three subjects.

Students in the third, sixth and eighth grades take the California Assessment Program test each spring. The exams are scored on a scale ranging from 100 to 400.

Bill Honig, state superintendent of public instruction, said the statewide junior high scores are “disquieting.”

“We’ve got some major work to do in the middle schools and junior highs. They’ve been a neglected area in the whole reform movement,” Honig told a state Board of Education meeting in Sacramento.

San Diego eighth-graders increased their scores in written expression by six points and in mathematics by three points, and topped the state average in history--an exam offered for the first time--by one point. Statewide, eighth-grade scores in written expression dropped four points.

Overall, San Diego school district students did well, topping the average state score in every category of the 1985 test and bettering last year’s scores in all but one category.

In many cases, district students widened their lead over the state average between 1984 and 1985, district figures show.

“Things look quite good, I believe,” Behnke said. “It shows that, in achievement of the basic skills, as measured by the state (curriculum) framework, the district is doing quite well.”

“I think they (the scores) are cause for a good celebration,” said Bertha Pendleton, special assistant to Supt. Thomas Payzant. “However, even though we are above the state average, we’d like to be at an even higher level.”

In the early 1970s, California schools were urged to work harder on teaching basic skills in the early grades. Ever since, scores on a variety of elementary tests have been rising.

Upon taking office in 1983, Honig turned his attention to high schools, and the Legislature required students to take more academic courses. Since then, scores on both the state exams and the Scholastic Aptitude Test have jumped.

But the traditional remedies--more homework and less television--did not stop the slide at the eighth grade.

About two-thirds of the eighth-graders in 1985 said they did one hour or more of homework per night, up from 42% last year. Meanwhile, 45% said they watched three hours or more of television per night, a 2% drop from last year.

Honig noted, however, that the scores are closely linked to homework and television. Students who did more homework scored higher, while those who watched more television scored lower.

“Homework isn’t the only answer. But everything else being equal, the kids doing the most homework also have the highest scores,” Honig said. “Watching more than two hours of TV a night seems to make a difference. The scores go down substantially for the kids who are watching more than that.”

The results released Friday include state and district averages for students who took the exams last spring. State officials said they will not make public individual school scores for at least two more weeks.

SCHOOL TEST SCORES

These latest results of the California Assessment Program--a state basic skills test taken each spring--show comparative performance of students statewide and in the San Diego Unified Schoold District.

CALIFORNIA AVERAGES

1983 1984 1985 3RD GRADE Reading 263 268 274 Writing 266 272 279 Mathematics 267 274 278 6TH GRADE Reading 253 249 253 Writing 259 260 265 Mathematics 260 261 264 8TH GRADE Reading 250 240 Writing 250 246 Mathematics 250 251 Social Studies 250

SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

1983 1984 1985 3RD GRADE Reading 268 271 281 Writing 274 278 290 Mathematics 270 279 287 6TH GRADE Reading 256 249 260 Writing 269 272 282 Mathematics 269 268 276 8TH GRADE Reading 252 242 Writing 251 257 Mathematics 263 266 Social Studies 251

() 8th grade testing began in 1984. () Social Studies test was added in 1985.