East County Students Outpace Peers Statewide

High school students in affluent eastern Ventura County generally post higher standardized test scores, drop out less frequently and attend community colleges more often than their peers statewide.

Yet, with some exceptions, students living west of the Conejo Grade lag behind others in the county--and the state--in those key indicators of high school performance, according to a state report released today.

As in years past, county students slightly outpaced state students overall in terms of high school graduation rates, vocational course enrollment and Scholastic Assessment Test scores, the report found.

County rankings in the annual High School Performance Report, released by the California Department of Education, were buoyed by the performance of schools in Thousand Oaks, Oak Park, Simi Valley and Camarillo. Schools in Moorpark, Ventura and Ojai also fared well. By county standards, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula and Fillmore schools flagged in many categories.

Educators attribute the east-west education split to a host of socioeconomic factors, among them parents’ education, income, the agricultural lifestyle and lack of English proficiency. And affluence correlates strongly with educational achievement, county schools Supt. Charles Weis said.

“Sadly, as educators, we still haven’t discovered the steps to overcome those traditional [economic] indicators of success,” he said. “Kids that come to school ready to learn and with a lot of home support seem to get more out of school. Our goal is to make sure all kids get that access to learning that the more affluent students get.”

But in a state analysis of the 80 most demographically similar schools, west county campuses received comparatively higher marks for vocational training, SAT scores and college-bound percentages, according to the report.

For example, when Oxnard High School students are compared with their peers statewide on SAT scores, they rank slightly below the state average at the 48th percentile. But when compared against schools with similar demographics, the campus rates slightly above average at the 52nd percentile.

On the other hand, at Royal High School in Simi Valley, SAT scores are at the 68th percentile when compared statewide, but drops to the 26th percentile when paired with demographically similar schools.

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Much like a student’s report card, the annual performance report grades all public high schools on everything from SAT scores and college attendance to vocational education and the percentage of students receiving free school lunches. The intent of the report--based on information from the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years--is to help parents and educators spot trends in schooling and come up with ways to help youngsters excel.

Data is listed for 17 of the county’s 18 comprehensive high schools. No information was available for Simi Valley’s new performing arts and technology magnet high school, Santa Susana, which opened in September.

On the main, the report underlines what educators already know: Ventura County is home to good public schools.

“We’ve got a lot of smart kids, supportive families and good teachers,” Weis said. “What [the report] says to me is that you can get a very good education in public school in Ventura County.”

But the performance report also makes clear the fact that west county high schools fall below the state average in some areas.

SAT scores, in particular, illustrate the east-west divide.

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On the SAT, three of the top five--and seven of the top 10--scoring schools are from the eastern swath of the county: Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Oak Park and Moorpark.

Countywide, students scored an extra 43 points on their SATs compared to their California counterparts, but a smaller proportion took the test to gain entrance to most colleges and universities.

In the 1995-96 school year, California students earned an average score of 495 verbal and 511 math on the SAT, for a total of 1006 out of a possible 1600. In Ventura County, the corresponding numbers were 517 verbal and 532 math, adding up to 1049.

Thirteen of the county’s 17 high schools fared better on the test--which can mean the difference between a college acceptance or rejection letter--than the state average of 1006. The schools that fell below the state benchmark--Channel Islands, Hueneme, Fillmore and Santa Paula--are all in the western half of the county.

While SAT scores for Fillmore and Hueneme have inched up, Santa Paula High School’s test scores continued a downward spiral. The 1994-95 verbal score of 430 dipped 32 points from the previous year. The 420 math score dropped 40 points. Even compared to schools with similar demographics, the school placed at the 16th percentile.

“I realize we have been sliding, and I think we have to focus on that as a primary area, and that way we can set the motions to do well on the SAT,” said William Brand, Santa Paula Union High School District superintendent.

Brand says the school will be making greater effort to encourage students to take the pre-SAT test. Testing consultants from the Educational Testing Service have visited the campus twice this year to give students tips on taking the SAT.

The three high schools from the Conejo Valley Unified School District dominated the SAT rankings: With an average score of 1103, Thousand Oaks High School had the highest scores in the county. Trailing Thousand Oaks High by 8 SAT points was Westlake High School. Newbury Park tied with Ventura’s Buena High at 1076 for the fourth-highest scores.

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With an average score of 1090, Adolfo Camarillo was the third highest-scoring school.

“No, they don’t take [a SAT preparation] course as part of the curriculum,” said Richard Simpson, Conejo Valley’s assistant superintendent for instructional services. “There’s just an extremely high expectation among parents for students to go directly to college. With that expectation comes the SAT. To do well on the SAT, you have to take a rigorous course load . . . of honors or advanced placement classes.”

Educators warn that SAT scores can be skewed depending on the number of graduating seniors who take the college entrance exam in a year. If only a few, gifted students take the exam, scores will probably lilt higher. If more students take the test--bright and average alike--average scores may dip.

Some 35.4% of seniors took the test in Ventura County, slightly fewer than 42% for the state.

Not only do county students test comparatively well, but they are less likely to drop out than those across California. While 83.1% of state students complete high school, 86.6% of Ventura County students receive a diploma.

The likelihood that a freshman will graduate from high school has fallen somewhat in the county. In last year’s report, 88.1% of the county students were likely to complete four years.

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The 700-student Oak Park High School had the lowest dropout rate, with 99.4% of students graduating. That’s a point of pride for Oak Park High Principal Millie Andress.

“We’re small to begin with,” she said. “That gives us a chance to identify and assist at-risk students earlier. It’s hard to fall through the cracks here because of the familial aspect of the school. . . . Everyone knows everyone.”

Along with Oak Park, five other schools had more than 90% of their students staying in school, based on figures from the last four years: Thousand Oaks, Westlake, Adolfo Camarillo, Moorpark and Santa Paula.

Falling below the state average were Channel Islands, Buena, Oxnard, Hueneme and Ventura. The lowest completion rate was tallied by Ventura High, where 78% of students finish school.

Ventura Unified School District officials believe that the completion rates for Buena and Ventura highs are misleading. Several years ago, the district experienced an all-time high in expulsions after cracking down on students for weapons possession and pushing drugs.

The state calculated expelled students who went on to attend alternative schools as dropouts, making it appear as if the completion rate for Ventura Unified was unusually low, district officials said.

“That was the first year we were really doing a lot of expulsions for safety issues,” Assistant Supt. Pat Chandler said. “Zero tolerance kicked in big time that year. And the second is the record keeping; we cleaned up our act in tracking whether students from independent study had dropped out.”

Ojai Unified School District officials point out that 96% of their students stay in school even though the state report indicates that the figure is 85%. A former principal sent in incorrect dropout rates two years ago, skewing the figures, Supt. Gwen Gross said.

Among Ventura County students who graduate, 38.9% have completed the required course work to attend the state’s public colleges, called A-F courses. That compares to 34.8% statewide.

“When we look at the college-bound [course work completed], I think we’re going in the right direction,” said Jane Kampbell, Fillmore Unified School District’s assistant superintendent.

Although the combined SAT scores of 891 still come in at the 29th percentile compared to the state average, 99% of Fillmore’s students complete course work to attend state colleges with a grade of C or better, she said.

“Hopefully, we’ll never want to be satisfied,” Kampbell said. “We’ll keep wanting to do better, but we are moving in a positive direction.”

Yet no more than 9% of the Fillmore student body attends University of California or Cal State University schools.

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Based on 1994-95 statistics, Ventura County students are more likely than other California students to start their higher education in community colleges, rather than four-year institutions.

“[Four-year colleges] are so expensive that a lot of our students are choosing to minimize costs by going to a community college and working, then transferring during their junior year,” Gross said. “That’s a pattern I’ve observed in the whole county. They want to stay home because of the huge added expense.”

Weis attributes that phenomenon to frugality and the lack of a four-year public university in Ventura County. Things could change, he added, if Cal State University Channel Islands opens in Camarillo.

“If the cost of tuition and housing becomes too much of a burden, community college is an inexpensive and smart way to go,” he said. “Unfortunately, the transfer rate to a four-year program is still not high enough. We need a four-year public university here in Ventura County.”

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Many county seniors, 41.2%, graduate into community colleges, compared to 35.6% of students statewide. A smaller proportion of students enroll in the more rigorous Cal State or UC systems compared to the state average.

While 8.8% of California students enroll in the Cal State system, Ventura County sends only 5.1% of its graduating seniors to the 22-campus system. Similarly, 7.1% of state seniors enroll in UC schools, compared with 6.6% of Ventura County students. Figures for students attending private or out-of-state colleges were unavailable.

“I’m very interested in that data,” Weis said. “I want to know if we’re sending fewer kids to college or if we’re sending fewer kids to public, in-state colleges. Students who go to private and out-of-state colleges--that’s the missing data.”

* ANALYSIS OF STATE SCORES: A1

* VENTURA COUNTY SCORES: B7