High School Report Cards

The Times today is publishing selected “quality indicators” for Orange County high schools, released annually by the California Department of Education. The data come from a variety of sources, including the schools themselves. The information is compiled on every high school to help parents, educators and policymakers spot trends in performance.

The four-year completion rate and the college attendance information is from the 1994-95 school year and is the latest such data available. The SAT information is from the 1995-96 school year.

NOTES TO THE TABLES

Four-year completion rate is an estimate of the percentage of the current ninth-grade class that will stay in school through the 12th grade. It is based on the combined dropout rate for all four high school grades during the 1994-95 school year.

SAT/ACT above average is the percentage of seniors who scored above the national average on the SAT or the ACT, which colleges use when making admissions decisions. For example, if the rate is 50, it would mean that half of the seniors taking one of the tests scored above the national average. The national average for the SAT, which measures verbal and mathematics reasoning, is 1000.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Other available statistics include information about student background and enrollment. This additional information and the information appearing on these pages can be obtained in several ways.

From the state Department of Education at (916) 657-2905.

On the Internet at: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ftpbranch/retdiv/epic/

Information for schools in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties is available from the Los Angeles Times World Wide Web site at: https://www.latimes.com/test.scores

From your local school or school district office.

District Comparison

Average SAT Scores

Comparison of high school district scores for the Scholastic Assessment Test shows Irvine Unified with the highest average score, math and verbal combined:

District: Score

Irvine Unified: 1128

Newport-Mesa Unified: 1114

Capistrano Unified: 1103

Laguna Beach Unified: 1095

Brea Olinda Unified: 1095

Tustin Unified: 1093

Saddleback Valley Unified: 1092

Los Alamitos Unified: 1084

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified: 1081

Fullerton Joint Union High: 1079

Huntington Beach Union High: 1077

Orange Unified: 1075

Garden Grove Unified: 993

Santa Ana Unified: 879

Note: Scores not available for Anaheim Union High School District

Above-Average SATs

Percentage of seniors in each Orange County district scoring at or above the national average on the SAT:

District: Pct.

Irvine Unified: 62.2%

Laguna Beach Unified: 61.9%

Los Alamitos Unified: 59.1%

Orange Unified: 52.5%

Saddleback Valley Unified: 50.7%

Brea Olinda Unified: 49.5%

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified: 49.4%

Tustin Unified: 48.0%

Huntington Beach Union High: 46.0%

Capistrano Unified: 43.9%

Newport-Mesa Unified: 43.5%

Fullerton Joint Union High: 35.4%

Garden Grove Unified: 34.4%

Santa Ana Unified: 22.3%

Anaheim Union High: n/a

Advanced Placement Tests

This table shows the percentage of juniors and seniors in each district scoring high enough on Advanced Placement tests to earn college credit:

District: Pct.

Irvine Unified: 46.1%

Laguna Beach Unified: 39.0%

Brea Olinda Unified: 32.8%

Los Alamitos Unified: 29.0%

Huntington Beach Union High: 28.2%

Capistrano Unified: 28.2%

Fullerton Joint Union High: 26.4%

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified: 26.3%

Saddleback Valley Unified: 25.0%

Newport-Mesa Unified: 23.2%

Tustin Unified: 21.2%

Orange Unified: 19.3%

Garden Grove Unified: 9.2%

Anaheim Union High: 8.6%

Santa Ana Unified: 7.1%

* n/a means the rate was not calculated.

* Percentages are rounded off to the nearest tenth.

Sources: California Department of Education, individual school districts