BURBANK : District Scores High in Reading, Writing

Reflecting county and statewide results, Burbank students scored higher in reading and writing than in mathematical skills, according to California Learning Assessment System test scores released today.

Burbank Unified School District Supt. Arthur Pierce would not comment on the scores, but said that in the past the district’s scores had been slightly above the statewide average.

The CLAS tests, administered for the first time this year, were given last spring in grades 4, 8 and 10.

At the high school level, students at Burbank and John Burroughs scored higher in reading and writing when compared with state and county averages, but lower in math.

MaryLe Emmett, assistant principal at John Burroughs High, said students there scored lower because the new test is based on an analytical approach to the subject to which the school has not yet converted.

Emmett said she agreed with the new testing philosophy, however.

“They’re having the student do what is typical of what they would be doing after they graduate,” Emmett said. “It’s obviously harder and it means restructuring.”

Burroughs has started putting together a math committee that will review how math is taught at the school, she said. Any curriculum changes would not go into effect until September, 1995, she said.

In reading and writing, 11% of Burbank High students scored at the two highest levels in reading. Sixteen percent reached the highest levels in writing.

At John Burroughs, 8% of students taking the test scored at the highest levels in reading, with 16% reaching those levels in writing--slightly better than state and county averages.

Emmett said that students at Burroughs were better prepared for the reading and writing tests because the school had in recent years been giving students an annual three-day test that focused on essay questions.

“We’ve been doing testing like this, so they are used to it,” Emmett said.

In math, test scores of Burbank eighth-graders were close to the county average and slightly worse than the state average.

In reading and writing, the district’s schools, with the exception of David Starr Jordan Middle School, scored lower than both the county and state averages. Jordan’s average scores were better in those subjects.

“I’m pleased with the reading and writing scores,” said Jordan Principal Mary Margaret Kljunak. “I see some room for improvement in math, but that’s true statewide.”

At the fourth-grade level, the district fared slightly worse in all subjects than state averages. But their scores were slightly higher than county averages.