In a CLAS by Itself : Loma Vista School Earns High Marks on State Test

Loma Vista School is one of the smallest in Ventura.

But Tuesday, the little campus reported big scores on the California Learning Assessment System test, ranking it as the top school in western Ventura County for performance on the statewide exam at the elementary level.

Results of the 1993-94 CLAS test, which were released Tuesday, showed Ventura County students in grades four, eight and 10 performing better than the state average in reading, writing and math.

While school officials were cautious about embracing the statistics given the furor surrounding the now-defunct exam, teachers at Loma Vista elementary school defended the test and said results validate instructional approaches they have taken in recent years.

“I thought it was a good test, I don’t understand the controversy,” said teacher Mary Salmonsen, whose fourth-grade class took the exam last spring. “It tested their thinking and reasoning skills, not just rote memory. I feel like what we are doing is working.”

What Salmonsen and other teachers at Loma Vista have done is stress writing in all subject areas, even math and art. And they have encouraged elementary students to think analytically.

While those concepts are not new or cutting-edge in education, they are reiterated at all grade levels at Loma Vista. And, when taught well, they are reflected in tests like CLAS, educators said.

“Obviously, it is the teachers,” Principal Richard Kirby said of Loma Vista’s high ranking on the test. “They are doing a good job.”

Loma Vista teachers attend frequent education conferences and make a conscious effort to continue educating themselves, not just their students, officials said.

“I feel people are really interested in how to teach well here,” said Katy Barsch, a second-grade teacher. “All the teachers here are working at having a top-notch classroom.”

Last spring, 53 fourth-grade students at Loma Vista were eligible to take the exam. But parents of about eight students objected to the test and decided not to let their children take it, Kirby said.

Such was the case at other schools across Ventura County and the state, where parents criticized portions of the test for being evasive and probing into students’ personal lives.

Last September, Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a bill that would have extended CLAS testing, leaving California without a state exam.

At tiny Loma Vista, which enrolls just 331 students, parents took a wait-and-see attitude toward the test, said Wendy Zirbel co-president of the Parent-Teacher Assn.

“There was not strong negative sentiment about the CLAS test at our school,” she said.

Developed over the past several years and first administered in 1992, the CLAS test was designed to measure students’ thinking and problem-solving skills. Although it marked a sharp departure from traditional assessment tests, Loma Vista teachers said it reflected concepts they stress in class.

In math, for example, Salmonsen pushes concepts over calculations and asks her fourth-graders to explain how they solved a problem--an approach to math instruction outlined in state framework and the CLAS test.

“It’s not really new,” Salmonsen said. “It’s just encouraging deeper thinking. They really learn to solve problems.”

Loma Vista’s high marks on the statewide exam point the spotlight on a school that prides itself on being small, safe and quietly nestled in an area populated with families.

“We call Loma Vista the best kept secret in Ventura,” Zirbel said. “I’m very proud of our school.”