County Students Show Slight Edge Over State

Ventura County high school students are slightly more apt to stay in school, take college preparatory classes and go on to college than their counterparts statewide, according to a state report released Monday.

Ventura County students also outstripped their state counterparts on the Scholastic Assessment Test, scoring 39 points higher on average on the state college and university entrance exam, the report said.

But a smaller proportion of students took the SAT in Ventura County than on the state level, indicating that most college-bound students here are planning to start at community colleges rather than the more rigorous state colleges or universities, or attend private schools that don’t require the SAT--or not continue their education.

The findings, part of the annual California High School Performance Report released by the state Department of Education, also show a strong split within the county along socioeconomic lines.

Students in the more affluent eastern end of the county scored higher on average in many areas than students in schools where there are more students with limited English skills and more who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, such as in Oxnard, Fillmore and Santa Paula.

However, performances at those schools, when compared to others in the state with similar demographics and socioeconomic standings, compare favorably to the state average.

Ventura County educators praised county students and teachers for their strong showings on the annual report, especially in the number of students expected to finish four years of high school. That rate, 88.1% for the county, compared to 81.1% statewide, reflects the number of freshmen who are expected to graduate, based on previous years’ dropout rates.

“When we’re recruiting businesses to Ventura County, they have the perception that California schools are not as good as others in the nation,” said Charles Weis, Ventura County superintendent of schools. “But here we see that we are above the state and national average in most areas.”

But other administrators warned that the state report does not tell the full story about education.

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“This shows only basic data on basic subjects,” said Ventura High School Principal Henry Robertson. Art, music and student body activities are all part of a student’s education, but are left out of the report, he said.

“I give this study some weight, and we will always try to do anything we can to improve our kids’ education,” Robertson said. “But it’s just one way to evaluate students.”

And the report has shortcomings in the area it does report, as well. For the Conejo Unified School District, for instance, the report shows that only 62.6% of students go on to college.

But that figure includes only students going to California colleges. Supt. Jerry C. Gross said the correct figure is closer to 80%.

“We have scores of students who go on to private and public institutions across the country,” he said. “In an area like this, more tend to go because they can afford it.”

The report evaluates the state’s educational health for the 1994-95 school year in most areas, and the 1993-94 year in other areas.

Statewide, schools improved slightly in SAT scores, advanced placement scores and enrollment rates for courses accepted by Cal State and University of California campuses.

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But Weis said he was disappointed by the smaller number of students taking the SAT exams--35% of students here, compared to 41% statewide.

‘I’m not pleased with that,” Weis said. “We should be encouraging more kids to take the test because it is seen as a reflection of the number of kids being encouraged to go to college.”

That could be explained in part by the large number of Ventura County students who attend community colleges, which do not require SAT exams for admission, he said.

In Ventura County, 50.6% of high school graduates go on to college compared to 49.4% in the state overall. But of those in Ventura County, 39.1% go to community colleges, 7.2% go to UC campuses and only 4.3% go to Cal State campuses

“But that’s because we don’t have one here,” Weis said, referring Cal State’s 10-year quest to build a campus in the county.

On the state level, 8.1% of students attend CSU, 6.9% attend UC and 34.5% attend community colleges.

Statewide, despite an emphasis on courses designed to prepare students planning to go directly into the workplace, enrollment rates in career or vocational education classes fell by 3.3%. That decline was mirrored in some schools in Ventura County, although others saw increases.

The number of students enrolled in at least one vocational education class in Simi Valley Unified School District, for instance, fell by 5.1%.

That is probably due to a district emphasis on college preparatory classes, said Supt. Mary Beth Wolford.

“We’re probably not as strong in vocational education because more of our students are preparing for college and attending college,” she said. In addition, she said, students take advantage of “tech prep” courses for which they receive community college credit. But those courses are not included in the vocational education statistics, she said.

But in Santa Paula, the number of students enrolled in at least one school-to-work program increased 16% over the last two years to include 63% of students. In Fillmore, which had the county’s lowest SAT scores and where only 49.7% of students were college bound, 48.2% of the students were enrolled in at least one vocational education course--up by 3.4%.

Weis said the county has emphasized vocational education as well, offering 21 regional occupational training programs at 13 sites.

Oak Park, one of the most affluent areas of the county tucked in the hills just west of the Los Angeles County line, had only 14% of students enrolled in one or more vocational education courses. But Oak Park Unified had the highest percentage of students expected to graduate.

Oak Park High School, the only high school in the district, also posted the highest percentage of class enrollments for the so-called “A-F classes,” courses that meet admission standards for the University of California.

Principal Jeff Chancer attributed the school’s top scores to hard work, a small population of only 670 students, and the way students and parents are treated.

“Parents expect us to provide their students with college-prep curriculum,” he said. “That’s the priority of this community.”

Almost two-thirds of the school took the SAT exam, scoring an average of 934 compared to a county average of 941 and a state average of 902.

The Conejo Unified School District topped the county with an average score of 1,007, compared to Ojai Unified’s 959, Moorpark’s 950 and Simi Valley’s 940.

Fillmore Senior High, on the other hand, had the lowest average SAT score at 753.

But in the diverse Oxnard Union High School District, average SAT scores ranged from 990 at Adolfo Camarillo High School, nearly 90 points above the statewide average scores, to 796 at Hueneme High School.

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Hueneme High Principal Joanne Black, who had not yet seen the state report, attributed the low test scores to the large number of students at her school who are not proficient in English.

However, English proficiency does not seem to determine student performance. At Rio Mesa High School, where the percentage of students with limited English proficiency is virtually the same as at Hueneme High, the average SAT scores are 130 points higher.

The Oxnard schools do well at keeping their students enrolled. Nine out of 10 students are expected to complete four years of school--two percentage points higher than the county average.

“We have put a lot of effort into keeping kids in school,” said Gary Davis, assistant superintendent of educational services. Since 1986, the district has put in place a variety of alternative educational programs, expanding its continuation high school, organizing a program for teen parents, and expanding summer school classes, Davis said.

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At Ventura’s two high schools, where the four-year completion rate is on average five percentage points lower than at Oxnard schools, Supt. Joseph Spirito admitted that there is room for improvement.

“We need to look at why others are doing better in the attendance area,” Spirito said.

Joanna M. Miller is a Times staff writer and Miguel Helft is a correspondent.

* MAIN STORY: A1

* VENTURA COUNTY SCORES: B4