Students Show Slight Gains in State Test Scores

California’s high school seniors are doing slightly better this year in writing, spelling and mathematics, but poorer in reading, according to state test results released Friday.

Figures from Orange County high schools also were generally higher, reflecting the statewide improvement in California Assessment Program, or CAP scores, school officials said.

The 12th-graders who took the test in December scored higher in writing, spelling and math than any senior class in California since 1977, although the improvement amounts to a gain of only 1% or 2%.

In reading, however, the reverse was true. Since 1975, when the test was last revised, reading scores have moved generally downward.

While the final test results for all high schools will not be publicly released by the state until April 23, some school districts in Orange County are disclosing the scores they have received so far, and those districts show improvement.

“Notable gains were made at each school in the district,” said Catherine G. McGough, public information officer for the Huntington Beach Union High School District. The district includes Edison, Huntington Beach, Ocean View and Marina high schools in Huntington Beach, and Fountain Valley and Westminster high schools.

Fullerton District

Fullerton Joint Union High School District similarly reported improved scores for its schools, based on the preliminary information from the state. The Fullerton district is composed of Troy, Sunny Hills and Fullerton high schools in Fullerton; Sonora and La Habra high schools in La Habra, and Buena Park High.

“There were gains in written expression, spelling and math over last year’s scores,” said Shirley Finton, spokeswoman for the Fullerton Joint Union High School District.

Garden Grove Unified School District, which has the largest pupil enrollment in Orange County, also showed improvement on its high school CAP scores, officials said.

“There is general improvement,” said Lois Blackmore, coordinator of Garden Grove district’s testing, evaluation and research. “Our schools showed improvements in all the test areas, and in math, we were above the comparison band.”

Ed Dundon, superintendent of Garden Grove Unified School District, said: “We’re gratified that as many high schools showed improvements as they did in the scores. However, there is still considerable improvement yet to be made, and we will continue to work on it.”

“Comparison bands” are assigned to statewide test scores so that school districts can be judged against districts with similar socioeconomic and population mixes. To be above a comparison band means that a school district outperformed all similar school districts in the state.

Santa Ana Unified School District, which is the second largest in the county, is not yet publicly disclosing its preliminary CAP scores. “We will release our CAP scores after our board of education has had an opportunity to review them,” said Diane Thomas, public information officer.

L.A. Follows Trend

In the Los Angeles school district, the same pattern was evident. Reading scores fell slightly from last year, but the seniors scored better in the three other subjects. Once again, the scores in the Los Angeles high schools were well below the state average.

“Reading is the toughest area to turn around,” said state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, who has tied his political future to turning around the state’s low test scores. “I think it’s partly our language problem. We have a lot of kids coming into our schools who don’t speak English as a native language.”

Honig noted that California students also tend to score above the national average in mathematics and below average in the verbal areas on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. “It’s also true that a lot of reading programs are weak. No one person is responsible for reading in most high schools,” he said.

Scores Steadily Declining

Honig said he was particularly disturbed because scores in some areas have been steadily sinking, despite state policies and extra money designed to help high schools beef up their education programs.

“In the next weeks and months, we will be putting these schools and districts on notice, offering assistance, investigating what is wrong and working with them to upgrade their performance,” he said.

The state CAP exams cover grades 3, 6, 8 and 12; the 30-minute test is designed to measure trends in school achievement. The younger students take the test each spring, while seniors take the test in December.

For more than a decade, the younger pupils have scored steadily higher on the state test, but the increases have not been translated into significantly higher scores for seniors.

In 1983, the Legislature set new high school graduation requirements seeking to ensure that all students get the basics of a good education. The state has also lengthened the school year, added new summer classes, insisted on more homework assignments and raised teachers’ salaries, all in hopes of improving achievement levels.

Honig said a quick analysis of this year’s scores showed no particular pattern among the schools scoring better and those doing worse. For example, some urban districts, such as San Diego and Long Beach, had much better scores, while others were faring worse.

One pattern, though not new, was seen again this year. Before beginning the exam, students answer several questions about themselves. Those who admitted to watching the most television turned in the lowest scores on the average, while those students who avoided TV scored the highest.

TEST SCORES

These are average results of test scores among high school seniors who took the California Assessment Program exams in December:

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Year Reading Writing Spelling Math ‘83-’84 62.2 62.6 69.4 67.4 ‘84-’85 62.9 63.2 69.7 68.3 ‘85-’86 62.7 63.4 70.1 68.7