‘Can-Do’ Attitude in Santa Ana

High school seniors in the Santa Ana Unified School District have given their teachers, parents, district officials and themselves a most welcome graduation present.

In the annual California Assessment Program (CAP) tests, Orange County public schools usually do very well, with one notable exception. Scores have been consistently low in Santa Ana.

The latest test scores of high school seniors released last Monday again showed seniors scoring high around the county. Overall, they exceeded the statewide averages in the four areas tested: reading, written expression, spelling and math.

This time, however, Santa Ana’s seniors showed the biggest gain of any school district in the county, improving in all four subjects.

That’s not easy to do, especially in a district that has more students than any other in the county. Moreover, Santa Ana has one of the state’s largest concentrations of students with limited knowledge of English.

Supt. Edward S. Krass had announced his goal to turn this year’s test scores around. Faculty, staff and students responded. The result goes beyond test scores. Pride and school spirit also have risen, along with a feeling of success and accomplishment. At Saddleback High School, for example, students staged an outdoor pep rally, a campus rite usually reserved for a major sports event.

The good showing in this year’s CAP testing doesn’t mean that Santa Ana has solved all of its problems. It will take more than one year of academic progress to do that. But the gains in basic skills show a new can-do confidence and are a sign that the district’s teaching and curriculum are headed in the right direction.