S.D. 11th-Graders’ Test Scores Improve for 2nd Year in a Row

Eleventh-graders in San Diego city schools posted their second straight year of improved test scores, equaling or topping national averages in all math, reading, language and spelling categories on the examination.

Results of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, which will be considered by the Board of Education at a meeting Tuesday, showed that high-achieving, average and low-achieving students all improved their test scores over results in 1983 and 1984.

The tests were given to 6,879 high school juniors last fall.

“We’re real pleased that the scores are up and that we’re doing the right thing,” said Robert Raines, program evaluator in the school district’s testing unit. He said the improvement by students at all three ability levels shows that school system programs are working.

District students posted overall scores of 72 in math, 69 in language, 69 in spelling and 55 in reading. The national median in each category is 50.

The students posted a 50 in reading comprehension, the lowest score in seven categories that made up the overall scores.

Raines said the reading comprehension score is lagging because that skill is a more difficult one to teach students than math or vocabulary. “It’s something we’re really going to have to take a look at,” he said.

Students at Gompers Secondary School earned the highest marks in three of the four major categories, posting test scores of 88 in math, 82 in spelling and 81 in language.

La Jolla High School students posted the top score in reading, 74.

Abraham Lincoln High School students had the lowest scores in three categories: 50 in math, 16 in reading and 48 in language.

Herbert Hoover High School students also posted a score of 48 in language.

San Diego High School students scored 50 in spelling, the lowest mark in that category.