Schools : Curriculum Changes Bring Major Improvement in CLAS Test Scores : Education: West Covina High School’s concerted effort pays off in only a year. Math and writing were incorporated into a wide range of courses.

In response to unexceptional scores last year on the California Learning Assessment System tests, West Covina High School resolved to revise its teaching methods. And what a difference a year made.

Scores released by the state last week showed that 76% of the school’s sophomores scored in the top three levels in writing and 71% did the same in reading--the top percentages in the San Gabriel Valley.

Douglas Agatep, principal of West Covina High School, said that after the low scores of the previous year, teachers vowed to change the way students are taught.

“We don’t want kids to just sit in one class and learn one thing,” Agatep said. “We’re incorporating math into social studies and science courses and essay writing into every course.”

Of about 450 sophomores, 90 took the 1994 test, which required permission from parents.

In the 1993 tests, only 17% of the school’s students scored in the upper levels of reading while 30% did so in writing.

After the low scores, teachers at the high school updated their curriculum to include more hands-on learning, less memorization and more group work.

“A kindergartner can memorize things, but we want our students to be able to analyze information as well,” said Jim Maiorca, a history teacher. “I have my students writing a lot more. We’re focusing more on critical thinking and developing and supporting ideas.”

Teachers and students at the high school were “pretty ecstatic” about the high scores, Agatep said.

“I was surprised we did so good,” junior Belinda Tam said. The test was a little harder than the other tests she took in 1994, she said. “It feels good though to do so well.”

Maiorca said he and other teachers prepared students for the test by having them practice essay writing and complicated math problems. But he said teachers avoided teaching students simply how to pass the test.

“We’re always told, ‘Don’t teach to the test,’ because then we’ll just have a lot of kids who know how to test well,” Maiorca said. “We’re teaching them how to investigate and solve problems whether it’s going to appear on a test or not.”

Schools were compared with 100 school districts with similar income and educational levels. As a district, West Covina Unified scored higher than comparable districts in reading and writing. It scored lower overall in math, but it was still an improvement from 1993.

Although only 26% of the tested sophomores at West Covina High School scored in the top three levels of math, that score shot up dramatically from the 3% who made it to the top tiers in 1993.

The high school, which has 2,200 students--45% of whom are Latino, 27% white, 13% Asian and 10% African American--is not normally singled out for being a top-scoring high school.

“We’re not affluent San Marino, that’s for sure,” Agatep said. “We are more of a multicultural, middle-of-the-road school.”

The CLAS tests were administered for the second time last spring to selected fourth- and eighth-graders and sophomores. The 1994 scores were released April 4 by the state Department of Education.

The exams, which relied more on essay questions and less on multiple-choice answers than in previous years, were considered demanding by educators but controversial by the governor’s office and some parents who complained that some of the questions invaded family privacy.

Although state officials said they were disappointed with overall scores--which measure students against performance standards instead of one another--they said districts that have historically scored high continued that trend.

In the San Gabriel Valley, schools in San Marino, Arcadia, Walnut, Temple City and South Pasadena scored high in reading, writing and math. Pomona schools scored near the bottom.

The CLAS test will not be administered this year because Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed the $28 million originally appropriated to administer and score a 1995 exam.