Selected Inner-City Schools Do Well on Tests : Education: Many central city students did poorly on CLAS tests, but scores were higher at campuses with creative teachers, involved parents.

Students from the city’s urban core who could count on creative teachers and involved parents and who were highly proficient in English scored well in the latest round of statewide performance tests. But at schools where those factors were lagging, area educators said, scores were low.

The Los Angeles Unified School District fell well below state averages in the California Learning Assessment System, or CLAS test, released earlier this month. Many schools in the Central City trailed considerably behind district averages.

But other inner-city schools surpassed the district’s median figures--and at times even the state’s--in reading, writing and math.

The test, which was administered last year to students in fourth, eighth and 10th grades, attempted to gauge the ability to write clearly, grasp complex material while reading, and apply and explain sophisticated mathematical concepts. The test will not be given this year, however, because of complaints about probing essay questions and provocative reading material.

As state officials grapple with a replacement for the CLAS test, local educators whose schools fared well are doling out rightly deserved pats on the back.

“I’m extremely proud of the students,” said Robert Barner, who oversees the administrative district that includes King/Drew Medical Magnet in Willowbrook, which emerged as the district’s top scoring high school.

Nearly all King/Drew students are African American or Latino, and most come from the low-income neighborhoods that ring the school. It is one of the district’s so-called schools of choice for top-performing students.

Barner attributed the school’s success to innovative teaching techniques (social studies students play “Jeopardy” to learn key events of the Civil War) and its dedication to achievement.

In addition, teachers at King/Drew attempt to help students hone their critical analysis and problem-solving skills, the very abilities the CLAS test was designed to assess.

Another bright spot in the Central City was Griffith Junior High School in Boyle Heights, which exceeded district averages in all categories of the test.

Principal Raul Salcido said a large part of the school’s success stems from extensive involvement by parents in their children’s education. The school, Salcido said, regularly offers parent advisory meetings and parenting classes, that at times draw as many as 80 mothers and fathers.

Esperanza Street Elementary School in Westlake holds similar meetings, but, unlike Griffith, gatherings at the grade school usually attract between 15 to 30 parents, said Principal Rowena Lagrosa. And those parents who do show up, she said, are generally not the ones whose children need the most help.

The school placed well below district averages in reading and writing, and none of its students scored a passing grade in math.

Among the reasons for the low scores, Lagrosa said, is the limited English proficiency of roughly 95% of her pupils and the transitory nature of the neighborhood.

Educators at other schools that scored poorly on the test cited similar factors, especially limited skill in English, for their students’ low performance.

But Elizabeth Sullivan, leader of the administrative district that includes Fremont High School in South-Central, said sub-par English ability is a problem not solely limited to foreign students.

Only 9% of Fremont’s students scored passing grades in the reading and writing portion of the test, and Sullivan laid part of the blame on the area’s high poverty rate.

Although area educators highlighted different reasons for poor test scores, nearly all agreed that the prescription for better results should include increased parent involvement and stepped-up efforts by educators to sell students on the importance of education.

The CLAS test set out to gauge a student’s critical thinking skills, but it did not assess students’ pride in their personal progress in school, said Maria Rico, bilingual coordinator at Hollenbeck Junior High School in Boyle Heights.

Although the school’s eighth-graders performed poorly on the test, she said, the exam failed to reflect how hard the students work to improve or the teachers’ dedication to helping them.

“I think we’re on the right track,” Rico said.