Students Do Better, Schools Cash In

Although many school officials in Los Angeles County privately express reservations about the state Department of Education’s cash-incentive program to improve scores on the California Assessment Program tests, they publicly laud the reward system--especially if their school won.

This year, 134 county high schools will receive bonus money, ranging from $219 at Rosemead High School in the El Monte school district to $168,800 at Bell Gardens High School in the Montebello district.

Another big winner was West High School in Torrance, which will receive $69,375. The school earned no money last year, so this year the students and faculty are “very pleased, especially the seniors,” Principal William Bowden said.

Statewide, 548 high schools, or 48%, raised their scores in reading, writing, mathematics and spelling to qualify for the incentive money. Other factors determining the amount of the awards include the number of students who took the test and how well they performed in specific categories. A total of $14.6 million will be distributed this year, the second year of the state-funded program.

“I couldn’t begin to tell you how excited we were without carrying on like a maniac,” said Bell Gardens Principal Frances Riley. The Montebello school earned the second-highest amount in the state, following Roosevelt High School in Fresno, which won $192,000.

Bell Gardens did not qualify for a cash award last year, Riley said, so the staff and students doubled their efforts to prepare this year’s seniors to take the test and hoped their hard work would pay off.

“All I was worrying about was a couple thousand dollars to pay for annuals for the seniors,” Riley said. “When we found out how much we won, we could not believe it. I thought for sure some error had been made.”

Most of the winning schools have yet to decide how they will spend their earnings. Under the state guidelines, each school must establish a committee of students, teachers and parents to determine how the money will be used.

Last year, many schools used the funds to beautify their campus or to purchase new computers and other supplies. Others also tried to use a portion of the cash to help seniors with their graduation expenses.

According to state guidelines, a school qualifies for the incentive award if its overall score rises and if at least 93% of the seniors took the exam. In Los Angeles County, as in the state as a whole, scores generally rose this year, except in reading which dipped slightly.

AWARDS TO SCHOOLS

School Tested District Amount Leuzinger 410 Cent. Valley $76,863 Hillcrest 38 Inglewood 7,253 Morningside 139 Inglewood 50,463 Banning 562 Los Angeles 66,781 San Pedro Marine 34 Los Angeles 12,310 Westchester 444 Los Angeles 60,783 Rancho Del Mar 58 Palos Verdes 10,499 Miraleste 273 Palos Verdes 26,733 Palos Verdes 427 Palos Verdes 24,557 Rolling Hills 403 Palos Verdes 44,509 Mira Costa 437 South Bay 45,276 Redondo 422 South Bay 54,775 North 378 Torrance 37,894 Shery 20 Torrance 4,986 South 362 Torrance 2,906 Torrance 374 Torrance 38,517 West 316 Torrance 69,375

Sample Question

For 12th Graders

Identify the group of words which is incomplete or needs additional words to complete the meaning. - The barking dog in the driveway.

- It is humid.

- Peace continues.

- There is the mail.

In the next item, Part I expresses ideas in choppy, repetitious sentences. Decide which sentence in Part II expresses these same ideas most effectively. Part I.

There were some loose boards. They were laid on the railroad ties. They supplied a footing for the man. They also supplied a footing for his executioners.

Part II.

Laid on the railroad ties, the man stood on some loose boards which supplied a footing for him and his executioners.

Some loose boards laid on the railroad ties provided a footing for the man and his executioners.

Some loose boards laid on the ties supporting the rails provided a footing for the man and his executioners.

On the railroad ties were some loose boards, and they provided a footing for the man and his executioners.

Answers: The barking dog in the driveway. Some loose boards laid on the railroad ties provided a footing for the man and his executioners.

1985-86 TEST SCORES FOR 12TH GRADERS

State, County Averages

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

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

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 59.4 59.8 68.0 64.3 84-85 60.1 60.5 68.3 65.3 85-86 58.6 59.8 68.0 65.0

District and School Averages

Centinela Valley Union

DISTRICT AVERAGE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 56.7 55.5 65.8 61.2 84-85 57.6 56.5 69.1 64.3 85-86 57.7 57.3 67.4 64.1

HAWTHORNE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 59.4 57.4 66.7 64.7 84-85 59.3 58.1 70.4 65.8 85-86 57.7 57.6 66.5 62.8

LEUZINGER

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 58.0 57.7 67.4 62.9 84-85 55.5 54.7 67.6 62.6 85-86 57.6 56.7 68.3 65.5

El Segundo Unified

DISTRICT AVERAGE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 64.9 67.1 72.0 71.6 84-85 66.4 66.8 71.1 69.0 85-86 62.2 63.7 69.4 67.9

EL SEGUNDO Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 64.9 67.1 72.0 71.6 84-85 66.4 66.8 71.1 69.0 85-86 63.4 64.8 70.4 69.5

Los Angeles Unified

DISTRICT AVERAGE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 56.4 56.6 65.8 61.3 84-85 57.3 57.4 66.7 62.3 85-86 56.7 57.5 66.8 62.5

BANNING

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 53.5 53.1 66.4 57.6 84-85 53.8 53.2 66.7 58.8 85-86 53.7 56.3 68.9 59.6

BANNING MAGNET C.I.P.

Reading Writing Spelling Math 84-85 97.5 99.7 99.5 99.1 85-86 64.7 68.7 75.6 71.7

CARSON

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 54.5 54.3 64.9 57.9 84-85 56.8 55.1 67.9 60.5 85-86 55.2 56.0 67.6 60.1

GARDENA

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 57.2 56.7 66.3 60.5 84-85 58.0 58.9 69.2 64.0 85-86 56.6 58.5 69.9 64.4

NARBONNE Reading Writing Spelling Math

83-84 58.2 58.4 68.8 62.3 84-85 61.1 59.9 70.5 65.9 85-86 59.7 60.2 68.5 63.7

NARBONNE MAGNET

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 75.9 71.8 79.6 81.1 84-85 75.2 78.9 82.4 84.9 85-86 72.8 75.4 79.7 83.7

SAN PEDRO

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 61.1 59.0 67.3 64.9 84-85 61.9 62.1 71.3 66.3 85-86 60.5 60.4 68.7 66.3

SAN PEDRO SCIENCE MAGNET

Reading Writing Spelling Math 84-85 64.7 64.1 69.1 66.3 85-86 63.6 69.4 80.9 72.2

WESTCHESTER

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 63.2 65.0 71.1 65.5 84-85 59.9 61.2 67.9 62.8 85-86 62.3 62.9 67.1 64.4

Palos Verdes Unified

DISTRICT AVERAGE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 72.6 73.8 76.4 79.6 84-85 72.7 74.2 76.6 80.5 85-86 72.6 75.6 76.7 82.1

MIRALESTE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 70.4 70.6 74.1 76.5 84-85 70.2 72.8 75.7 76.9 85-86 71.4 73.1 74.0 80.0

PALOS VERDES

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 72.8 75.4 77.7 80.8 84-85 73.9 75.7 77.3 81.6 85-86 73.9 76.6 79.3 82.2

ROLLING HILLS

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 73.8 74.1 76.2 80.3 84-85 72.9 73.2 76.3 81.5 85-86 72.1 76.1 77.4 83.3

South Bay Union

DISTRICT AVERAGE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 64.3 63.6 68.9 67.0 84-85 67.8 67.9 72.5 70.5 85-86 68.2 70.3 74.7 71.2

MIRA COSTA

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 64.5 65.3 70.3 68.9 84-85 67.4 68.6 73.2 71.8 85-86 68.9 71.5 76.0 70.3

REDONDO UNION

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 64.0 61.3 66.9 64.5 84-85 68.2 67.0 71.7 68.7 85-86 67.4 69.1 73.2 72.2

Torrance Unified

DISTRICT AVERAGE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 66.0 66.3 72.6 71.0 84-85 65.8 66.9 72.6 72.0 85-86 66.9 67.9 73.7 73.6

NORTH

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 63.5 64.5 72.0 69.8 84-85 64.4 64.6 72.3 70.4 85-86 65.1 66.7 72.3 71.5

SOUTH

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 65.4 65.0 70.7 70.5 84-85 67.2 69.1 74.4 74.9 85-86 67.5 69.0 74.6 74.9

TORRANCE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 67.5 68.4 74.3 70.4 84-85 65.7 66.7 72.0 70.8 85-86 66.6 67.3 73.1 73.0

WEST

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 67.9 67.3 73.2 73.6 84-85 66.1 67.7 71.9 72.2 85-86 69.0 69.0 74.9 75.5

Inglewood Unified

DISTRICT AVERAGE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 51.4 53.8 64.8 54.3 84-85 53.2 53.1 65.2 54.4 85-86 53.4 53.0 66.4 54.7

INGLEWOOD

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 49.8 52.9 64.6 53.6 84-85 54.6 53.8 64.8 56.3 85-86 52.9 51.8 64.3 53.6

MORNINGSIDE

Reading Writing Spelling Math 83-84 54.2 55.4 65.0 55.5 84-85 51.4 52.0 65.7 51.7 85-86 54.8 55.6 71.2 57.1

How to Read the Scores

The results of the standardized California Assessment Program test are reported below for Westside high schools. Additional scores for schools in other areas may be found in today’s Metro section.

This is how to read the scores:

Schools are listed alphabetically by district. The scores indicate the percentage of correct answers and show progress over three years. Dashes indicate that tests were not given or that scores were not available. Continuation high schools have not been included.

In general, a fluctuation of 10 points or more is considered statistically significant. A rise or fall of 9 points or less is not.

Third-, sixth- and eighth-grade students took the test this spring, and their scores will be reported in the fall.