Students in L.A. Score Far Below Nation on SAT : Education: Average score was 60 points lower. District blames results in part on rising number of students not fluent in English.

Los Angeles school district students continue to perform poorly on the SAT college entrance exam, scoring well below state and national averages for the sixth consecutive year, according to test results released today.

Seniors who took the Scholastic Assessment Test last spring scored an average of 351 points in the verbal section and 418 in the math, more than 60 points below their counterparts nationwide. The best possible score is 800 points on each section.

“We need to look at these scores as another challenge to the district,” said Linda Lownes, a testing coordinator for the Los Angeles Unified School District. “Every time we see test results from our kids, we’re looking that challenge right in the face.”

District officials attribute the decline in part to growing numbers of students who do not speak fluent English. About 64% of the 11,337 Los Angeles district seniors who took the SAT in March learned English as a second language, compared with 35% of the students statewide and 17% nationwide, officials said.

In addition, many students with only average grades took the exam, bringing down the overall average, district officials said. But Board of Education President Mark Slavkin said the district should stop making excuses for the district’s poor performance, which includes a nearly 44% dropout rate.

“The goal is to get higher achievement at all levels. We’re not there, and we need to get there,” Slavkin said.

Students such as Armine, a 17-year-old Marshall High School graduate whose first language is Armenian, said the test was grueling--particularly the verbal section.

“English for me was much harder than math,” said the girl, who did not want her last name published. “The vocabulary was hard. All my friends felt the same way.”

Despite the overall decline districtwide, some schools showed increases over last year. At San Fernando High School, scores increased 4 points in verbal to 325 and 6 points in math to 395.

“This is my first day back, and this is good news,” said Harold Soo Hoo, the school’s college adviser. “We had a very motivated group, and that made a difference.”

Soo Hoo said more seniors at the school took preparatory courses and attended workshops before taking the SAT. Also, more seniors took the exam twice, beginning in their junior year, he said.

At Verdugo Hills High School, Assistant Principal Carol Gorton said the seniors’ scores in the verbal section increased 16 points to 367 and 33 points in math to 445.

“I’m pleased our scores went up--that’s going in the right direction,” Gorton said. “But we still didn’t go where we’d like.”

Tawni Takagi, 17, a Chatsworth High School graduate, said no one should be surprised by the low scores considering the environment at most city high schools.

“There are too many kids in the classroom and not enough discipline,” she said. “I’ve seen fights break out in class. The teachers are like, ‘I don’t care. I’m not going to get involved. I don’t get paid enough for this job.’ ”

Other students, such as Lillian Montenegro, 17, of the Pico-Union area, said private SAT preparation courses--which are taken by many middle-class students nationwide--are too costly for many Los Angeles students.

“I never even took one of these college prep courses,” said Montenegro, who attended Birmingham High School and scored a total of 1310 points on the SAT. “I mean, who can afford to pay?”

Some students did not even crack a book.

Delvin Stephenson, who graduated from Westchester High School, said he did not study for the test because he wanted to see how well he could do without any preparation. He scored a total of 680.

“I learned I didn’t know as much as I thought I knew,” he said.

Although slightly fewer seniors took the SAT last spring than in previous years, district officials said the large numbers of students who take the exam tend to reduce the overall district average.

“We have both extremes,” said Evans, of Marshall High. “We have those who do real well, and we have those who don’t even speak English. That always holds us back.”

* MAIN STORY: A1

* VENTURA COUNTY: Mixed results reported on SAT scores. B1