‘Danger Symptom’ : Test Goals Unmet at Many Schools

Fewer than half of the state’s public high schools reached two-year goals for improvement on a standardized math and reading test, according to figures released Thursday by Bill Honig, state superintendent of public instruction. Those falling short of the goals included 10 of the 36 high schools in the San Fernando Valley area.

Eight of those 10 schools were among 131 California high schools that recorded declining scores in both the math and reading parts of the test.

Honig characterized schools that did not show improvements as exhibiting “a danger symptom of a lack of learning.” But some local school administrators countered that they were victims of success, since it was difficult for their students to improve on traditionally high scores.

The ratings of high schools were based on an average of the results of the California Assessment Program (CAP) reading and math tests for the last two years. Although results of these tests have been released before, this is the first time the scores have been analyzed to see if schools met statewide goals set by Honig in 1984.

Honig’s Goal

Honig’s goal for each school was to improve math and reading scores in CAP tests by .5% or move to the top 25% of comparable schools--those with a similar social and economic makeup within the student body.

Of 739 public high schools statewide, 349 met or exceeded goals in both reading and math.

Thirteen Valley-area schools met their goals in both subjects. None of them, however, both exceeded goals and placed in the top quarter.

Statewide, another 259 schools met the goal in only one subject--171 in math and 57 in reading. Thirteen Valley-area schools were in this category.

Of the 131 schools with declining scores, 30 fell to the bottom quarter of their comparison group. Valley-area schools in this category were North Hollywood, Sylmar, Van Nuys, Cleveland in Reseda and Monroe in Sepulveda.

Administrators at some of the schools that did not meet state goals said it is unfair to conclude that their schools are doing a poor job. Instead, the scores reflect the narrowness of Honig’s goals, they said.

Compared to the Best

For example, Saugus High School did not meet test improvement goals, but Gary Wexler, coordinator of curriculum in the William S. Hart Union School District noted: “When the state set 1983-84 school year as the base line, it turned out that Saugus High’s CAP scores were the highest in the history of the school.

“The school happened to have a championship season that year. When a team has a championship year, when all other teams are compared to that year, they don’t look as good.”

Dan Issacs, superintendent of the Los Angeles school district’s High School Division, said the CAP scores are just one indication of the performance of a school and should not be taken as a true picture of the school’s quality.

“I think our schools are working hard to improve on test scores, and I don’t want parents to lose sight of the fact that this is only one indication of the performance of a school,” Issacs said.

Making Schools Accountable

The CAP test has become one of the cornerstones of Honig’s plan to make schools more accountable to the public through periodic publication of test scores, dropout percentages and other so-called “quality indicators.”

Seniors are tested in reading, math, spelling and written expression. Results are not broken down on an individual basis, and the test is not a factor in determining whether or not a student graduates.

As an incentive to ensure that seniors will do their best on the test, the state’s Education Improvement Incentive Program provides cash awards to schools that test at least 93% of the class and show “overall improvement” in test results. SCHOOL RATINGS

Category 1A Exceeded goals in reading and math and are in top of state. None

Category 1B Met goals in reading and math and/or are in top of state. Burroughs, Burbank Calabasas Canyon, Canyon Country Chatsworth Cleveland Magnet, Reseda El Camino Real, Woodland Hills Granada Hills, Grant, Van Nuys Moorpark Oxnard Polytechnic, Sun Valley Royal, Simi Valley Taft, Woodland Hills

Category 2 Met goal in just one subject Agoura Burbank Birmingham, Van Nuys Canoga Park Channel Islands Hart, Newhall Hueneme Newbury Park Oak Park Rio Mesa Simi Valley Thousand Oaks Westlake

Category 3 Did not meet goal in either reading or math Camarillo Kennedy, Granada Hills Saugus Reseda San Fernando

Category 4 Declining scores and in bottom of state Cleveland, Reseda Monroe, Sepulveda North Hollywood Sylmar Van Nuys