School Ranks Second-Highest on State Test

A South Bay high school that draws some of the most talented students in the area has earned the second-highest scores in the state in a test of reading, writing and math skills.

Tenth-graders at the California Academy of Mathematics and Science, a 5-year-old school in Carson that recruits top female and minority students from eight school districts in the Southeast and South Bay areas, earned the second-best scores on the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) test. Academy scores were surpassed only by those at Whitney High School in Cerritos, which was ranked the top high school in the state for the second year in a row.

Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, the next highest-ranking South Bay high school, came in 25th in the state. Palos Verdes Peninsula High and Torrance’s West High tied for 29th. The Long Beach Unified School District runs the 470-student California Academy on the Cal State Dominguez Hills campus. About 86% of the students are minorities, and 52% are female.

“What’s reflected in these CLAS scores is the fact that our students are trained to think critically and to work creatively and constructively in groups,” said Principal Kathleen S. Clark.

The tests were also given to fourth- and eighth-graders.

In some portions of the test, students were required to work in groups, draw diagrams or describe how they arrived at a solution. Scores are based not only on getting the right answer but on explaining how they got the answer.

Officials at both the California Academy and at Whitney, a magnet school that accepts only the top students from ABC School District, said they prepared their students for the CLAS test by using similar questions in class.

About 91% of Whitney’s 10th-graders scored in the top three levels in both reading and writing. About 70% of the students scored in the upper three levels in math.

At California Academy, about 86% of the students scored at the top three levels in writing, 79% in reading and 61% in math.

Some educators have criticized districts that place their highest achievers in one school, arguing that other schools would benefit from the presence of these students.

Academy officials said they consider factors other than test scores when admitting students.

“We do have some of the best and the brightest, but our mandate is to have a mixed group of students,” Clark said. “The goal of the program is to bring more youngsters in the math and science pipeline.”