8th-Graders Outperform Classmates Statewide : Education: Students score below their predecessors on California tests. Officials say their programs are on track.

Ventura County’s eighth-grade students scored an average of five points lower on a statewide achievement test given last spring than their predecessors two years before, but still outperformed their classmates statewide, results released Tuesday showed.

The county’s eighth-graders earned an average of 275 points on the rigorous California Assessment Program test, compared with 280 in 1990. The statewide score was 259, down four points.

The biggest drops on both the county and state levels were in the reading portion of the test, results showed. Countywide, reading scores plummeted 16 points, while reading scores statewide fell 10 points. History and science scores also declined six points countywide.

Although expressing concern about the decline in scores, county school officials were quick to point out that since the CAP test was first administered in 1986, the average overall test score in the county has risen 20 points--from 255 to 275. The maximum score on the exam is 400.

“I think basically what we’re seeing is that we’re right on track with providing rigorous academic courses and making the curriculum more effective for students,” said Charles Weis, assistant superintendent of the Ventura County superintendent of schools office.

Weis said officials tend to look at multi-year trends in test scores to more accurately gauge the success or failure of academic programs, rather than comparing one- or two-year variations in scores.

He noted that the average countywide scores in each subject area covered in the CAP test--reading, writing, mathematics, history and science--have increased several points the past six years. All subject areas except writing were included in the first standardized test taken in 1986. The writing portion was added in 1987.

Weis agreed with state education officials that the drop in 1992 test scores can be attributed in part to continuing cuts in education spending. Another reason, he said, is the increasing number of limited-English-speaking students.

Countywide, 7,477 students took the CAP test in 1992. The exam was canceled in 1991 for budgetary reasons.

The test results show that some of the most significant improvements to occur during the past six years were in the Moorpark and Conejo unified school districts, which both showed a 32-point increase; the Hueneme Elementary School District, which showed a 29-point jump, and the Simi Valley Unified School District, where scores rose 24 points.

School officials attribute the rising scores in part to changes made in curriculum and instruction the past few years.

For example, many schools have structured classes to show students how different subjects relate to each other, several school officials said. And more emphasis has been placed on daily writing assignments, not only in English classes, but in all subject areas.

“We’re really making a concentrated effort to work on our curriculum,” said Mike Berger, principal at Chaparral Middle School in the Moorpark district. “I also have a dedicated staff. They are really committed to presenting the kids with a quality education.”

Compared with 1989-90, test scores rose in the Briggs Elementary, Hueneme Elementary, Mesa Union and Santa Paula Elementary school districts. All of these districts serve kindergarten through eighth grade.

Students in the Conejo Valley district averaged the highest marks in the county with an overall average of 322 points.

“We’re obviously very pleased,” Assistant Supt. Richard Simpson said. “We don’t look at the report as just measuring eighth-grade performance, but as a kind of culmination of what students learned in grades (kindergarten through eight). We have good students brought to us to start with.”

The Fillmore Unified School District reported the lowest overall average score of any district in the county with 201 points, a decline of 28 points from the 1990 test.

Fillmore Assistant Supt. Mario V. Contini attributed the score partly to the number of limited-English-speaking students who took the test. Of the 225 who took the test, 25% to 27% had limited English skills, he said.

Still, Contini said that he was disappointed in the scores and that officials are already talking with teachers to see how they can improve the curriculum.

Grant Behnke, a CAP research analyst with the state Department of Education, said the CAP test will be replaced next year with a new exam, which will have fewer multiple-choice questions and more emphasis on writing and critical-thinking skills.

THE STATEWIDE STORY: A1