County Students Surpass State Average : Test scores: Local youths also top peers in L.A. County. They do far better in reading and writing than in math.

Ventura County students surpassed the statewide average and far outranked their peers in neighboring Los Angeles County in new statewide assessment test results released today.

But, as in school districts across the state, Ventura County students performed far better in reading and writing than in math.

Of the fourth-, eighth- and 10th-graders in the county who took the California Learning Assessment System tests last spring, eighth-grade students scored the highest when compared with other California pupils at the same grade level.

Ventura County’s eighth-grade students had the ninth-highest scores overall among the state’s 58 counties, while fourth- and 10th-grade results each ranked 15th.

By comparison, Los Angeles County ranked 29th on its fourth-grade results, 20th in eighth-grade scores and 31st in the performance of its 10th-graders.

Among Ventura County’s 20 school districts, the small but affluent Oak Park Unified School District near Thousand Oaks had the highest overall scores.

But several other districts also performed notably well, including Conejo Valley Unified, Ojai Unified, the tiny Mesa Union district outside Camarillo and--in most areas except 10th-grade math--Moorpark Unified.

Some districts had scores that were conspicuously low.

The Fillmore Unified School District ranked last in the county in both 10th-grade math and 10th-grade writing. Also, the Santa Paula and Oxnard elementary school districts and the high school districts in both cities all performed below the state average in most areas.

The low scores might at least in part reflect that each of these districts has a high number of students with limited English, school officials said. The learning assessment tests put more emphasis on writing ability than any previous statewide assessment exams.

Unlike multiple-choice exams used in previous assessments, the state assessment tests ask students to explain in writing how they solved particular math problems or what they thought of a particular piece of literature.

“For second-language learners, this kind of test is extremely difficult because you have to explain your answers in writing,” said Gary Davis, assistant superintendent of the Oxnard Union High School District, where 40% of the district’s 10th-grade students have limited English proficiency.

As a whole, Ventura County students were strongest in writing and weakest in math, a trend that held statewide.

On the writing test, 52% of the county’s fourth-graders and 50% of eighth-graders demonstrated an ability to write coherently, making only occasional errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling. Statewide, only 44% of fourth-grade students and 40% of eighth-graders demonstrated these skills.

The writing scores declined, however, for older students.

Nearly one-quarter of 10th-graders in the county showed serious limitations in their ability to communicate in writing, making frequent errors in punctuation, spelling and grammar.

The lower results for 10th-grade students may reflect that schools across the county began only six years ago to focus on teaching the critical thinking skills tested by the learning assessment system, said Diana Rigby, a curriculum coordinator for the Ventura County superintendent of schools office. Previously, schools focused on teaching students only to get the right answers, she said.

“Fourth- and eighth-graders have benefited from this through most of their school careers,” she said.

As with its writing scores, the county surpassed the state average in reading. But these results also showed much room for improvement.

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Although 46% of the county’s eighth-graders demonstrated “a thoughtful understanding” of what they read, nearly one-fifth of students at the eighth-grade level showed only a superficial understanding of texts.

The results were worse in math.

Nearly one-third of Ventura County students at all three grade levels had the lowest possible scores on the tests--a 1 on a scale of 1 to 6--showing little or no understanding of mathematical ideas.

Unlike standardized exams, the learning assessment tests place less emphasis on mathematical computations than on how well students understand the concepts behind them. Students must not only give a correct answer but they must also explain how they arrived at that solution.

And only 10% of the county’s fourth-graders, 12% of eighth-graders and 10% of 10th-graders demonstrated an ability to interpret diagrams, graphs and word problems and an understanding of essential mathematical concepts.

Those averages were better than statewide figures, but not by much.

Statewide, 7% of fourth-graders, 11% of eighth-graders and 9% of 10th-graders showed an essential understanding of mathematical ideas.

In some school districts, students who performed very well in reading and writing stumbled in math.

The Moorpark Unified School District’s 10th-graders performed well above the state average in both reading and writing, but they were near the bottom in the county in their math scores: only 3% of Moorpark 10th-grade students demonstrated an essential understanding of mathematical ideas and an ability to interpret diagrams, graphs and word charts.

Moorpark Assistant Supt. Frank DePasquale said a district curriculum committee will take a hard look at what is being taught in math classes at Moorpark High School and Chaparral Middle School.

“We need to look at the middle school and high school math programs jointly,” he said. “What they’re learning at middle school may not be preparing them for high school.”

Most schools around the county are only beginning to use the new state math curriculum, which emphasizes critical thinking skills over the ability to do simple computations.

But teachers in Oak Park have been focusing for years on teaching mathematical concepts rather than just problem-solving, Oak Park Supt. Marilyn Lippiatt said. And that might account for Oak Park having the highest math scores in the county in the eighth and 10th grades, she said.

Conejo Valley Unified had the highest math scores at the fourth-grade level. The Thousand Oaks district was also at or near the top in every other subject area at each grade level.

But Conejo Valley Director of Pupil Services Sylvia Michael said she was most pleased by results showing Conejo’s performance in comparison with other school districts with similar socioeconomic levels.

For every school in California, state education officials have calculated how their scores compared with other schools with similar socioeconomic levels and comparable numbers of students who are limited in English.

Some districts such as Conejo Valley had outstanding results not only in comparison with others in their counties but also when viewed against similar districts across the state.

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On fourth-grade reading tests, for instance, 55% of Conejo Valley students showed a thoughtful understanding of texts, compared with only 44% in comparable California districts.

“That’s what I’m excited about,” Michael said. “It’s nice to have comparisons to schools and districts that are similar to yours.”

By this measure, one of the best-performing school districts in the county is Ojai.

On the 10th-grade reading tests, for instance, 53% of Ojai students demonstrated the ability to understand a whole text, compared with only 26% of students in districts of comparable socioeconomic levels.

Ventura County’s largest district, Simi Valley Unified, turned in a mixed performance when compared with districts of similar socioeconomic status. Simi Valley eighth-graders turned in lower results than their peers in comparable districts in all three subjects.

And Fillmore students performed worse than peers in similar districts around the state in most subject areas at the three grade levels.

Fillmore Assistant Supt. Mario Contini said school officials are less concerned about how they compare with other districts in the county and around the state than about just improving their scores on future learning assessment tests and meeting the high performance standards set by the exams.

“We’re not going to compete with anybody,” Contini said. “We’re going to compete with ourselves to do our best. We’re going to reach for those standards. That’s what we’re after.”

Ventura County Test Scores

The California Learning Assessment System is a state-mandated series of tests given last last spring to students in grade 4,8 and 10. Students’ reading, writing and math skills were measured against statewide performance standards. The standards, which are numerical from 1 to 6, range from little or no ability (1) in the subject area to skillful and creative (6).

The following are school districts that scored among the highest and the lowest in Ventura County when the three subject areas are combined:

GRADE 4

Highest: 1. Oak Park Unified 2. Conejo Valley Unified 3. Moorpark Unified 4. Ojai Unified 5. Simi Valley Unified

Lowest: 1. Santa Clara Elementary 2. Somis Union Elementary 3. Briggs Elementary 4. Fillmore Unified 5. Santa Paula Elementary

GRADE 8

Highest: 1. Oak Park Unified 2. Conejo Valley Unified 3. Mesa Union Elementary 4. Moorpark Unified 5. Pleasant Valley Elementary

Lowest: 1. Mupu Elementary 2. Santa Paula Elementary 3. Oxnard Elementary 4. Rio Elementary 5. Fillmore Unified

GRADE 10

Highest: 1. Oak Park Unified 2. Ojai Unified 3. Conejo Valley Unified 4. Moorpark Unified 5. Simi Valley Unified

Lowest: 1. Fillmore Unified 2. Oxnard Elementary 3. Santa Paula Elementary 4. Ventura Unified 5. Simi Valley Unified

(Scores ranked first in this category had lowest scores)

High Scores by Subject

The following are Ventura County school districts that scored among the highest in the three disciplines. The numbers for each school show the percentage of students who achieved each score. Six (6) indicates the highest level of performance. One (1) is the lowest score.

READING

6 5 4 3 2 1 Grade 4: Conejo Valley Unified 1 11 43 37 8 1 Grade 8: Mesa Union Elementary 3 14 49 23 9 3 Grade 10: Oak Park Unified 0 22 41 29 7 2

WRITING

6 5 4 3 2 1 Grade 4: Oak Park Unified 1 21 55 19 4 0 Grade 8: Oak Park Unified 1 25 48 25 1 0 Grade 10: Oak Park Unified 4 32 45 13 4 2

MATH

6 5 4 3 2 1 Grade 4: Conejo Valley Unified 0 6 13 28 34 19 Grade 8: Oak Park Unified 1 9 29 39 19 3 Grade 10: Oak Park Unified 0 7 16 26 37 13

Scorce: State Department of Education and Richard O’Reilly, directory of computer analysis at The Times

* STATEWIDE RESULTS: Students do poorly in revamped test. A1

MORE INSIDE: School-by-school results, graphics and in-depth look at individual districts. B4-7