County Students’ CAP Scores Top State Average

Students attending San Diego County public schools continue to perform at higher levels than their counterparts across California, according to standardized test results released Wednesday from the California Assessment Program in grades three, six and eight.

But drops in many scores of students in the San Diego Unified School District--the nation’s eighth-largest urban system--have city schools administrators worried even though district results on the annual tests given last spring are still above overall state averages.

Countywide, students gained in math at all grades tested, in language use at the third and sixth grades, and in reading at the sixth and eighth grades. Scores remained constant for third-grade reading.

In contrast, state scores--traditionally much lower than those in the county--dropped slightly for reading and written expression at the third and sixth grades, remained the same at the eighth grade, and increased in math at all three grades. (There is no eighth-grade test for language use.)

“San Diego County’s scores are good news for parents, teachers, and taxpayers,” Tom Boysen, superintendent of the county Office of Education, said Wednesday. “The gains in student achievement demonstrate that the instructional reform strategies put in place in the past several years are paying off.”

Boysen released data showing that, for example, county scores in third-grade reading have risen from 263 to 298, on a scale of 400, since CAP testing began in 1981 in an effort to spur academic reforms. In math, third-grade county achievement has risen from 265 to 306.

In contrast, state third-grade reading scores went from 254 to 275 and math scores from 254 to 283. A one-point drop or gain at a county or state level is considered significant because of the large numbers of students tested.

Boysen said county scores at the eighth-grade level are particularly noteworthy because it is a newer test designed to measure higher-order thinking skills and problem-solving ability. “It’s a tough test,” Boysen said.

CAP tests are the state Department of Education’s annual effort to measure the educational pulse. Results are reported statewide, countywide, for individual districts and for individual schools, but not for individual students. The tests measure the basic skills of students as groups to see whether the math, English and social studies goals set by the state are being met.

But, at the San Diego city level, testing coordinator Bob Raines said the scores are overall “bad news.”

In the third grade, reading scores dropped 9 points, language use dropped 5 points and math stayed the same. At the sixth grade, reading, language use and math all dropped 2 points each. At the eighth grade, reading rose 1 point but math dropped 2 points.

“And, even at the eighth grade, while we went up, the state went up more, and our historical degree of advantage over the state was reduced in almost all testing areas,” Raines said. “That is significant for this district since we always have prided ourselves as an urban district that can score well above the state.”

Raines and Kermeen Fristrom, director of basic education programs for city schools, said that the district has a larger number of non-native English speakers now taking the CAP tests. In addition, the district has changed its reading curriculum to emphasize writing, oral language and literature as recommended by the state, at the expense of extensive drills in grammar and spelling.

“But the tests at grades three and six have not been rewritten in a long time to reflect those state curriculum changes,” Raines said. But neither he nor Fristrom masked their disappointment. “We should have done better,” Fristrom said.

Because of a dispute between outgoing Gov. George Deukmejian and state Schools Supt. Bill Honig over how to fund the $14-million annual program, CAP tests are not scheduled to be given this school year. However, Raines said that an emergency appropriation is expected to be passed by the state Legislature in January and to be signed by the new governor, Pete Wilson, in time for spring testing in grades three, six and eight.

Fall testing of 12th graders has already been canceled for this year.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY VS. STATE SCORES

Written Reading Expression Mathematics County State County State County State Grade 3 1988-89 298 277 300 278 300 278 1989-90 298 275 301 277 306 283 Grade 6 1988-89 273 262 284 269 282 267 1989-90 274 261 284 268 286 270 Grade 8 1988-89 271 256 ** ** 288 269 1989-90 276 256 ** ** 291 271

History Direct Social Science Science Writing County State County State County State Grade 8 1988-89 275 259 281 267 272 255 1989-90 276 260 284 209 N/A N/A

** Discontinued N/A Not Available