County Schools Outstrip Counterparts in Test Scores

Many San Diego County high schools perform better than schools elsewhere with similar socioeconomic backgrounds on the state’s major standardized test to measure California’s educational pulse, an analysis by the county Office of Education shows.

And more than a dozen of the county’s 52 comprehensive high schools also score high marks on the numbers of students taking college-placement exams and college-preparatory courses, according to the annual high school performance reports released by the State Department of Education this month.

The 12th-grade performance reports rank all state schools on the basis of the California Achievement Program tests (CAP), the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) college placement exam, enrollments in college prep classes, dropout and attendance rates and scores on advanced-placement exams. The data has been collected since 1983 by state schools Supt. Bill Honig as a way to hold schools accountable to the public for promised improvements in the curriculum made by educators across California.

The so-called relative rankings on the CAP test are considered by state educators to be a key indicator in judging the performance of both school districts and individual schools in teaching reading and math skills.

The rankings compare schools that have similar composite socioeconomic indexes based 90% on the educational levels of parents and 10% on the schools’ number of English-limited students, the rate of student turnover during a school year and the number of student families receiving government welfare assistance.

Nine of the county’s high schools ranked above 75--out of a possible 99 ranking--in both the reading and math scores when compared to their socioeconomic grouping: Borrego Springs, Helix, San Marcos, Chula Vista, Mar Vista, Montgomery, Torrey Pines, La Jolla and Gompers.

A relative score above 75, which means the school did as well or better than three-fourths of those in its comparison group, is considered outstanding, said Jack Tierney, manager of planning and assessment for the county office who compiled the rankings from the state data.

More than 30 schools scored above 50 in both the reading and math tests, Tierney said.

The CAP test for 12th-graders measures reading comprehension and editing skills and stresses mathematical application and problem-solving, with less emphasis on computation. The test was given in December, 1987.

Schools are also listed by absolute ranking among all schools statewide as well. Tierney cited Montgomery High, a heavily minority school in San Ysidro, where its absolute math and reading scores ranked in the 40s, and its relative scores ranked in the high 80s.

The CAP scores are not being compared to those taken by 12th-graders in previous years because the test was substantially changed last year and the method used to present results altered.

In the San Diego Unified School District, the largest in the county and the eighth-largest in the nation, 13 of 18 schools met or exceeded comparison-group medians in math but only 7 of 18 met or exceeded their comparison group scores in reading.

La Jolla, Gompers, San Diego and Clairemont high schools stand out in their relative rankings, and Lincoln, Serra, O’Farrell and Madison fell substantially below their comparison groups.

In the SAT college exam category, 13 schools in the county had total scores from the SAT verbal and math tests above the county average of 917 (out of a possible 1600) and also had a higher percentage of seniors taking the test than the state average of 46.6% of all 12th-grade students.

The schools are: Carlsbad, Coronado, Valhalla, Mt. Carmel, Poway, Gompers, Patrick Henry, La Jolla, Point Loma, University City, San Dieguito, Torrey Pines and Bonita Vista.

Both state and county data show that more students are taking the SAT than in the past, meaning that more are considering college than in previous years. And, although a wider range of students taking the test traditionally tends to lower scores, performance has dropped only slightly.

The county analysis also highlights nine schools in which the number of students enrolled in college-preparatory courses exceeded more than 75% of those in their comparison groups. Those schools are: Borrego Springs, Torrey Pines, Southwest, Coronado, Poway, Gompers, Madison, Clairemont and Serra.

CAP SCORES FOR GRADE 12 READING

District/ Number CAP State Relative County High School Tested Score Rank Rank Rank Borrego Springs Unified Borrego Springs 25 275 71 85 21 Carlsbad Unified Carlsbad 345 290 80 71 15 Coronado Unified Coronado 151 311 90 63 8 Escondido Union High Escondido 285 276 71 84 20 Orange Glen 376 265 61 37 28 San Pasqual 316 315 92 78 5 Fallbrook Union High Fallbrook 350 294 82 76 12 Grossmont Union High El Cajon Valley 280 239 40 78 37 El Capitan 414 250 50 49 33 Helix 400 295 83 88 10 Granite Hills 436 268 64 54 25 Grossmont 380 281 74 58 18 Monte Vista 439 292 81 75 13 Mt. Miguel 368 255 53 81 30 Santana 511 220 27 15 42 Valhalla 414 264 60 16 29 Julian Union High Julian 38 295 83 92 10 Mt. Empire Unified Mountain Empire 66 218 25 15 45 Oceanside Unified El Camino 270 268 64 60 25 Oceanside 177 224 29 53 41 Poway Unified Mt. Carmel 571 335 97 91 2 Poway 553 314 91 67 6 Ramona Unified Ramona 240 253 52 26 32 San Diego Unified Clairemont 219 231 34 70 39 Crawford 302 194 12 7 51 Gompers 97 362 98 99 1 Henry 613 266 62 24 27 Hoover 302 200 15 36 49 Kearny 378 205 18 28 48 La Jolla 396 326 95 81 3 Lincoln 122 163 5 4 52 Madison 396 228 31 3 40 Mira Mesa 760 270 67 33 23 Mission Bay 346 282 75 75 17 Morse 468 234 36 25 38 O’Farrell 98 255 53 7 30 Point Loma 478 270 67 59 23 San Diego 300 220 27 66 42 Serra 431 248 48 12 35 University City 421 289 79 30 16 San Dieguito Union High San Dieguito 398 314 91 67 6 Torrey Pines 369 326 95 81 3 San Marcos Unified San Marcos 284 292 81 89 13 Sweetwater Union High Bonita Vista 444 299 85 53 9 Castle Park 286 217 25 64 47 Chula Vista 417 250 50 80 33 Hilltop 410 271 68 61 22 Mar Vista 281 219 26 84 44 Montgomery 424 242 42 88 36 Southwest 376 218 25 73 45 Sweetwater 374 199 14 56 50 Vista Unified Vista 671 279 73 77 19 County 264 State 250

MATH

District/ Number CAP State Relative County High School Tested Score Rank Rank Rank Borrego Springs Unified Borrego Springs 25 315 92 99 5 Carlsbad Unified Carlsbad 345 269 67 47 21 Coronado Unified Coronado 151 270 69 13 19 Escondido Union High Escondido 285 246 47 50 33 Orange Glen 376 268 66 53 23 San Pasqual 316 284 80 38 12 Fallbrook Union High Fallbrook 350 281 77 66 15 Grossmont Union High El Cajon Valley 280 230 33 73 43 El Capitan 414 248 48 51 32 Helix 400 288 82 90 10 Granite Hills 436 265 63 61 24 Grossmont 380 282 78 73 14 Monte Vista 439 278 74 63 17 Mt. Miguel 368 242 43 75 37 Santana 511 226 29 23 48 Valhalla 414 263 61 13 26 Julian Union High Julian 38 215 19 3 50 Mt. Empire Unified Mountain Empire 66 238 38 43 38 Oceanside Unified El Camino 270 263 61 61 26 Oceanside 177 227 30 60 47 Poway Unified Mt. Carmel 571 317 93 75 4 Poway 553 302 90 62 8 Ramona Unified Ramona 240 265 63 60 24 San Diego Unified Clairemont 219 230 33 74 43 Crawford 302 237 38 72 40 Gompers 97 347 98 99 1 Henry 613 283 79 54 13 Hoover 302 228 31 77 46 Kearny 378 232 34 73 41 La Jolla 396 324 95 83 3 Lincoln 122 172 5 5 52 Madison 396 256 54 34 30 Mira Mesa 760 280 76 52 16 Mission Bay 346 263 61 53 26 Morse 468 243 44 44 36 O’Farrell 98 238 38 2 38 Point Loma 478 275 72 79 18 San Diego 300 245 46 90 34 Serra 431 258 56 26 29 University City 421 303 90 63 7 San Dieguito Union High San Dieguito 398 311 92 69 6 Torrey Pines 369 332 96 88 2 San Marcos Unified San Marcos 284 287 81 93 11 Sweetwater Union High Bonita Vista 444 299 88 64 9 Castle Park 286 232 34 84 41 Chula Vista 417 256 54 91 30 Hilltop 410 270 69 70 19 Mar Vista 281 222 26 79 49 Montgomery 424 244 45 89 35 Southwest 376 229 32 79 45 Sweetwater 374 204 15 55 51 Vista Unified Vista 671 269 67 72 21 County 264 State 250

Twelfth-grade reading and mathematics scores for San Diego County school districts on CAP tests taken by students in December, 1987. For each test, results include:

- The number of students tested in each district;

- The scaled, or raw, scores;

- The state rank, showing how the district compared to all other districts in the state on a 1-to-99 scale, with 99 the highest;

- The relative rank, showing how the district compared to other districts in the state with similar socioeconomic backgrounds of students;

- The county score, showing the district’s ranking among the 16 San Diego County districts tested.

Source: San Diego County Office of Education