Class of ’89 Made Mark on the SAT : Education: The county’s high school seniors scored dramatic gains over 1984 graduates. The number meeting UC standards for advanced placement more than doubled.

The number of high school seniors who achieved Scholastic Aptitude Test scores high enough for admission to state colleges increased dramatically in Orange County in the last five years, and that of seniors who passed advanced placement tests more than doubled, according to figures released by the state Department of Education.

Statistics comparing 1984 graduates to members of the class of 1989 showed that the number of seniors who scored 450 or better in the SAT’s verbal section and 500 or better in math increased 39% and 43%, respectively, in Orange County. Every district in the county for which figures were available reported gains in both categories.

A verbal score of 450 and a math score of 500 makes most students eligible for admission to the University of California or California State University systems, said state Department of Education spokeswoman Susie Lange.

Countywide, 17.8% of 1989 seniors who took the SAT scored at least 450 in the verbal section, or 39% higher than the 12.8% of seniors with similar scores in 1984. In math, 21.6% of seniors reached at least 500, 43% more than the 15.1% of 1984 seniors with similar results.

The Orange County totals far surpassed the state averages, which showed a 21% rise in seniors achieving at least 450 in verbal and a 24% increase in those scoring at least 500 in math over the same five-year period.

“What this means is that over the past five years there has been substantial growth in the pool of young people better prepared to go on to college and into the work force,” state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said in a prepared statement.

The figures were compiled as part of a state report on trends in performance by college-bound students. The report also studied the percentage of seniors who successfully completed courses required for entry into the UC system, and on the number of advanced placement exams passed per 100 seniors. Sharp rises were also reported in most Orange County districts in those categories.

Countywide, 35% of the Orange County class of 1989 met what are known as the “a-f requirements,” or courses required by UC for admission. That represented a 22% increase over the class of 1985, when 28.7% of the seniors successfully completed the a-f course requirements, which include U.S. history, four years of English, three years of math, a laboratory science, two years of a foreign language and elective courses.

On the advanced placement exams--which are administered in 24 academic subject areas including biology, physics, French, calculus, music theory and computer science--28 of every 100 seniors who took the tests in 1989 passed. That was a whopping 128% increase over 1984, when 12.3 of every 100 AP students passed.

The countywide average on the AP exams was significantly increased by students in the Fullerton Joint Union High School district, where the number of seniors who passed the test soared from 7.3 of every 100 in 1984 to 32.9 of every 100 in 1989--an increase of 351%.

The Orange County averages were indicative of the state trend, which showed 20% more graduates meeting the a-f requirements and 114% more seniors passing advanced placement exams in 1989. Some of the increases around the state were eye-popping--in the El Rancho Unified District in Los Angeles County, the percentage of seniors meeting a-f requirements rose from 10.7% in 1985 to 61.2% in 1989. In the San Leandro Unified district in Alameda County, students who passed AP exams rose from 0.7 to 11.6 of every 100 students from 1984 to 1989.

Educators throughout Orange County attributed the huge improvements in college-bound test scores to greater emphasis on honors courses, development of preparatory courses for college entrance tests and the sharp rise in the number of students taking advanced placement courses, for which they earn college credit.

Bruce Givner, deputy superintendent of the Irvine Unified School District, where senior SAT scores of at least 450 in verbal and 500 in math rose 37% and 31%, respectively, said parents and students are both placing greater emphasis on advanced placement courses because of the soaring costs of college tuition. Students and their families can save hundreds of dollars in tuition by earning some college credit while in free public schools, he said.

Givner, like other administrators, also noted the increasing popularity of SAT preparatory courses, which some districts include in their curricula.

“We offer SAT review-type courses in our curriculum,” said William Eller, assistant superintendent for instructional operations in the Capistrano Unified District, which posted gains of 50% in the SAT verbal section and 39% in math. “We’ve also made efforts to (teach) kids on private or available (computer) software programs which do familiarize the students with test-taking strategies. We also encourage students who don’t do well to retake the exam.”

Some of the SAT review courses have come under fire by critics who charge that educators are “teaching to the test,” or reviewing specific questions that will appear on SATs. Most administrators, however, said the courses teach only “test-taking strategies.”

“Some people are real critical of preparing for a test, but there’s no way to teach the SAT,” said Clara Ingalls, an administrative assistant in charge of research and evaluation in the Orange Unified School District. “You can teach students key words to clue into, or the types of questions that most often appear on the test, or what kind of clues you can pick up from reading a question. But I don’t think it’s possible to teach the test.”

One such course is offered by the Princeton Review, a private firm that coaches students for SATs. Julio Kidder, SAT coordinator for the Review in Orange County, said about a third of all county students eligible to take the test went through the $575, six-week course.

“Five years ago, we had 30 students,” Kidder said. “Last year, 1,200 went through our course. That’s a significant impact on the fact that the scores are going up.”

Change By Ethnic Group The percentage of high school students completing all courses required for admission to the University of California has increased for all the state’s major racial and ethnic groups. The requi1919249765 1985 Percent Completed American Indian: 12.3% Asian: 42.3 Black: 17.2 Filipino: 30.5 Hispanic; 15.4 Pacific Islander: 18.8 White: 27.5 Total: 25.4 1989 Percent Completed American Indian: 19.2% Asian: 52.3 Black: 25.4 Filipino: 39.3 Hispanic: 19.5 Pacific Islander: 24.4 White: 31.8 Total: 30.6 Source: State Dept. of Education ORANGE COUNTY’S RISING TEST SCORES

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT):

The SAT includes a verbal section and a math section, each of which is scored on a scale of 200 to 800. The chart shows the percentage of seniors who took the test in 1984 and 1989 who achieved scores of at least 450 verbal and 500 math. In general, those scores denote eligibility for admission to schools within the University of California and California State University systems.

Completion of a-f Requirements:

The a-f requirements are the courses required by the University of California for entrance to one of its schools. The courses include U.S. history, four years of English, three years of math, a laboratory science, two years of foreign language, and elective courses. The chart shows the percentages of high school students who completed the UC required course sequence upon graduation in 1985 and 1989.

Advanced Placement (AP) Exams:

AP exams are given in 24 academic subject areas such as biology, physics, French, calculus, music theory, and computer science. These tests are scored on a scale of 1 to 5. Generally, a score of 3 or better is considered passing. Students generally earn college credit on passing the exam. The chart shows the number of exams passed per 100 high school seniors.

VERBAL SAT RESULTS: % OF SENIORS SCORING AT LEAST 450

Class Class of of Percent District 1984 1989 Change STATE AVERAGE 15.5 18.7 +21 County Average 12.8 17.8 +39 Anaheim Union High 7.4 11.0 +49 Capistrano Unified 17.9 26.8 +50 Fullerton Joint Union 14.3 18.0 +26 Garden Grove Unified 9.8 11.2 +14 Huntington Beach Union High 13.6 17.5 +29 Irvine Unified 25.9 35.6 +37 Los Alamitos Unified 20.4 29.1 +43 Newport-Mesa Unified 23.1 25.2 +9 Orange Unified 16.3 21.9 +34 Placentia Unified * 22.1 ** Saddleback Valley Unified 19.9 21.5 +8 Santa Ana Unified * 6.8 ** Tustin Unified 24.2 27.2 +12

MATH SAT RESULTS: % OF SENIORS SCORING AT LEAST 500

Class Class of of Percent District 1984 1989 STATE AVERAGE 16.5 20.5 +24 County Average 15.1 21.6 +43 Anaheim Union High 11.2 15.1 +37 Capistrano Unified 18.4 25.6 +39 Fullerton Joint Union 17.2 23.7 +38 Garden Grove Unified 12.6 16.2 +29 Huntington Beach Union High 18.5 21.8 +18 Irvine Unified 32.1 42.2 +31 Los Alamitos Unified 24.5 35.2 +44 Newport-Mesa Unified 25.6 30.5 +19 Orange Unified 18.9 28.2 +49 Placentia Unified * 26.3 ** Saddleback Valley Unified 20.0 23.2 +16 Santa Ana Unified * 10.8 ** Tustin Unified 25.9 34.1 +32

A-F COURSE REQUIREMENTS: % GRADS MEETING

Class Class of of Percent District 1985 1989 Change State Average 25.4 30.6 +20 County Average 28.7 35.0 +22 Anaheim Union High 21.1 29.3 +39 Capistrano Unified 46.3 63.3 +37 Fullerton Joint Union 32.0 38.8 +21 Garden Grove Unified 21.0 20.8 -1 Huntington Beach Union High 28.1 38.0 +35 Irvine Unified * * ** Los Alamitos Unified 34.2 40.3 +18 Newport-Mesa Unified 36.0 43.9 +22 Orange Unified 28.8 39.6 +38 Placentia Unified 46.8 58.1 +24 Saddleback Valley Unified 39.5 39.0 -1 Santa Ana Unified 21.7 21.3 -2 Tustin Unified 21.9 39.1 +79

ADVANCED PLACEMENT: % EXAMS PASSED PER 100 SENIORS

Class Class of of Percent District 1985 1989 Change State Average 9.5 20.3 +114 County Average 12.3 28.0 +128 Anaheim Union High 8.3 15.9 +92 Capistrano Unified 15.5 48.0 +210 Fullerton Joint Union 7.3 32.9 +351 Garden Grove Unified 4.0 11.4 +185 Huntington Beach Union High 13.8 27.9 +102 Irvine Unified 29.7 64.9 +119 Los Alamitos Unified 35.4 54.7 +55 Newport-Mesa Unified 20.2 37.6 +86 Orange Unified 9.8 30.4 +210 Placentia Unified 12.1 35.6 +194 Saddleback Valley Unified 14.4 31.3 +117 Santa Ana Unified 6.0 17.1 +185 Tustin Unified 17.3 27.3 +58

* Not released/reported by district or unavailable from testing service

** Unable to calculate

Source: State Department of Education