HOW TO READ THE SCORES

Here are California Assessment Program writing scores earned by eighth-graders last spring in Long Beach and other Southeast area public schools.

The previous year’s scores also are provided for comparison purposes, although CAP officials warn against reading too much into one-year variations.

The scaled score is a combination of results on each of the various types of writing tasks assigned. The average score in the state was 259, up 4 points over last year’s score, while the average for students in Los Angeles County was 236, representing a 6-point rise.

Relative rank is a way to compare a district or a school with another that is similar in terms of student socioeconomic makeup and students’ ability to speak, read and write English fluently as well as how often those students move from school to school. The value listed is the school’s percentile rank within its comparison group.

State rank shows the school or district’s ranking (on a score of 1 to 99), comparing its scores to those of every other school or district in California.

Schools in which too few students took the test for the results to be meaningful are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Sample Essay Question

This is a sample of one of the eight different types of essay questions that make up the California Assessment Program’s writing test for eighth-graders. Each student is assigned one type of writing task and the grades on all work done by students at a given school are combined to give the school a single “scaled score.” All essays must be completed within 45 minutes, and they are graded for thinking and writing process skills as well as for such mechanics of writing as spelling and grammar.

Writing Situation: Your English class is putting together a project about incidents that individual class members have experienced at school. Think of a memorable incident that you would like to include in this class collection. It might be an incident that made you feel a sense of belonging at the school, a funny situation, an embarrassing one, or any incident that is memorable to you.

Directions for Writing: Write about an incident that you have experienced at school. Things to consider include what was involved, what the people and surroundings looked like, what exactly happened, and how you felt about the incident. Try to make your readers, your classmates and your teacher understand why this particular event is memorable.

8TH GRADE CAP SCORES ABC Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 303 86 86 1988-89 280 60 74

CARMENITA

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 321 87 90 1988-89 288 34 77

HASKELL

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 299 84 79 1988-89 283 53 73

KILLINGSWORTH

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 227 64 26 1988-89 189 24 9

ROSS

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 255 51 47 1988-89 258 45 54

TETZLAFF

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 332 93 94 1988-89 291 67 79

WHITNEY

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 420 99 99 1988-89 439 99 99

Bellflower Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 255 37 45 1988-89 259 44 55

BELLFLOWER

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 243 40 37 1988-89 248 47 44

MAYFAIR

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 266 34 56 1988-89 271 40 64

Compton Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 141 4 1 1988-89 145 2 1

BUNCHE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 111 1 1 1988-89 121 1 1

DAVIS

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 166 9 3 1988-89 146 1 2

ENTERPRISE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 124 1 1 1988-89 145 2 1

ROOSEVELT

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 134 1 1 1988-89 144 1 1

VANGUARD

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 123 1 1 1988-89 167 2 3

WALTON

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 174 12 4 1988-89 159 3 3

WHALEY

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 157 6 2 1988-89 133 1 1

WILLOWBROOK

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 138 1 1 1988-89 155 3 2

Downey Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 275 78 65 1988-89 260 56 56

EAST

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 275 67 64 1988-89 272 49 65

GRIFFITHS

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 284 74 71 1988-89 275 61 67

SOUTH

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 250 55 43 1988-89 236 41 34

WEST

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 294 95 76 1988-89 262 73 57

East Whittier City Elementary DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 258 36 49 1988-89 254 37 50

EAST WHITTIER

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 248 34 41 1988-89 252 54 47

GRANADA

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 282 41 69 1988-89 260 27 56

HILLVIEW

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 240 32 35 1988-89 249 27 45

El Rancho Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 228 59 25 1988-89 209 33 17

BURKE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 208 16 14 1988-89 230 36 29

NORTH PARK

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 225 56 24 1988-89 211 49 17

RIVERA MIDDLE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 250 85 43 1988-89 186 9 9

Little Lake City Elementary DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 243 54 38 1988-89 248 57 45

LAKE CENTER

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 256 71 48 1988-89 250 58 45

LAKESIDE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 230 33 29 1988-89 247 56 43

Long Beach Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 240 51 34 1988-89 232 38 31

BANCROFT

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 254 19 46 1988-89 266 45 61

DEMILLE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 256 65 48 1988-89 223 23 24

FRANKLIN

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 208 46 14 1988-89 202 40 14

HAMILTON

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 202 16 11 1988-89 203 15 15

HILL

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 250 88 43 1988-89 237 60 35

HOOVER

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 247 56 41 1988-89 234 38 32

HUGHES

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 300 69 81 1988-89 263 33 59

JEFFERSON

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 208 22 14 1988-89 228 41 27

LINDBERGH

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 211 18 15 1988-89 204 27 15

MARSHALL

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 208 17 14 1988-89 224 40 25

NEWCOMB

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 350 98 97 1988-89 321 88 92

REID SENIOR HIGH*

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 -- -- -- 1988-89 -- -- --

ROGERS

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 276 65 65 1988-89 254 23 49

STANFORD

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 208 16 14 1988-89 233 51 32

STEPHENS

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 261 67 51 1988-89 240 37 38

WASHINGTON

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 198 33 10 1988-89 172 12 4

Los Angeles Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 208 30 15 1988-89 202 21 16

GAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 180 17 6 1988-89 178 17 7

NIMITZ

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 179 18 5 1988-89 178 16 7

SOUTH GATE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 196 27 10 1988-89 183 20 8

Los Nietos Elementary DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 215 28 17 1988-89 221 42 20

LOS NIETOS

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 215 28 17 1988-89 221 42 22

Lowell Joint Elementary DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 274 29 64 1988-89 284 37 76

RANCHO-STARBUCK

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 274 29 63 1988-89 284 37 74

Lynwood Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 183 15 6 1988-89 186 20 2

HOSLER

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 183 15 6 1988-89 186 20 9

Montebello Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 230 64 26 1988-89 224 57 24

BELL GARDENS

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 225 64 24 1988-89 207 45 16

EASTMONT

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 177 11 4 1988-89 220 59 22

LA MERCED INTERMEDIATE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 229 54 28 1988-89 235 53 33

MACY

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 268 66 58 1988-89 272 79 65

MONTEBELLO

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 250 88 43 1988-89 217 56 21

SUVA INTERMEDIATE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 230 70 29 1988-89 211 49 17

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 239 48 32 1988-89 235 39 34

GLEN

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 227 60 26 1988-89 212 46 18

LA MIRADA HIGH

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 267 58 57 1988-89 246 18 43

NORWALK HIGH

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 222 22 21 1988-89 245 52 42

Paramount Unified DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 199 38 2 1988-89 184 15 2

ALONDRA

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 175 8 4 1988-89 196 17 11

CLEARWATER

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 220 59 20 1988-89 174 14 5

South Whittier Elementary DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 225 64 23 1988-89 227 67 26

SOUTH WHITTIER

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 225 64 24 1988-89 227 67 27

Whittier City Elementary DISTRICT AVERAGE

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 242 62 38 1988-89 237 56 37

DEXTER

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 249 58 42 1988-89 237 63 35

EDWARDS

Scaled Relative State Year Score Rank Rank 1989-90 233 66 31 1988-89 237 47 35