Put to Test, O.C. High Schools See Scores Fall

Although Orange County’s high school students still rank well above the state average in most categories, their standings on the SATs and Advanced Placement exams slipped from last year, according to a newly released report.

Last year, Orange County led the state in the rate of students passing AP exams. This year, it ranked second, behind San Francisco. And on the SAT, Orange County was fourth last year; this year, it slipped behind Humboldt, Yolo, Santa Clara and San Luis Obispo counties, coming in eighth.

Furthermore, the rate of local students completing college-prep courses dipped by less than a percentage point this year to 34%, slightly below the statewide average of 35%.

Even so, the county’s average total SAT score of 1066 was higher than the state’s average of 1016, education officials reported. And the rate of students taking the SAT

and AP exams continues to inch up.

The figures were included in the California High School Performance Report, an annual collection of various measures of achievement by high schoolers, from dropout rates to the numbers taking advanced classes. The statistics were set for official release today.

“In a county where a third of our students have language problems, we are among the best in the state,” said John F. Dean, Orange County superintendent of schools. “It’s exciting to me that more kids are taking and passing AP tests. I’m really looking forward to seeing how we’ll do in a couple of years down the line when the state standards, curriculum and assessment system will all be aligned.”

Starting next year, the state’s new Stanford 9 test will be included in the annual report, but that is unlikely to boost the county’s standing. The first Stanford 9 test scores showed mixed results for Orange County students, who placed 27th in the state in reading and ninth in math.

For this year, the high school report card included data on SAT scores, passing rates on AP and other national exams, completion of college-prep courses, demographics and dropout rates.

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Statewide figures showed modest overall improvements in most areas:

* The rate of students completing requirements for the University of California and California State University systems rose from 32% to 35% over the last two years.

* The number of students attending public two- and four-year colleges jumped from 49% to 52%.

* Passing grades on the AP and International Baccalaureate tests increased from 11% to 13%.

While these trends seem promising, some education officials warned that an increasing number of students continue to struggle in basic math and language courses at the college level.

“There are two sides to the coin,” said Warren Fox, executive director of the California Postsecondary Education Commission. “More students are taking the right courses and looking college bound . . . but once they finally are admitted to college, the remediation rates are still high.”

Studies at the University of California and California State University have shown that rising numbers of college freshmen have not mastered the basic math and English writing skills necessary for university-level work.

The latest statistics show that 37% of incoming UC freshman last fall did not pass a basic reading and writing exam. At the CSU system, about half of last year’s new students had to take a remedial class in math and/or English to graduate.

High school administrators said they are working diligently to lift student achievement. Some districts are seeing the change.

Within Orange County, Brea Olinda Unified leapfrogged ahead of seven districts this year in the category of district SAT averages, landing in second place with a total score of 1113.

Administrators said more students might be taking SAT prep courses. Also, more students took the test in the previous year, which tends to broaden the pool of test-takers and drive down the results.

“The more kids taking the test, the greater the chances the scores will be lower,” Brea Olinda Supt. Peggy Lynch said.

Irvine Unified hung onto the top spot in the county for average SAT scores. Its University High ranked the highest among individual Orange County schools, with a total score of 1208, even though it has one of the highest rates of limited-English-speaking students among the top-10 scoring districts.

“This is one more important piece of evidence to tell us how well we’re doing,” said Dean Waldfogel, Irvine Unified’s deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “It’s valuable to look at trends and find ways to improve results.”

Districts such as Santa Ana Unified and Garden Grove Unified lagged behind in most categories. Even so, they saw improvements in some areas.

For instance, more Garden Grove students attended UC campuses last year, a 1.5% jump to 8.6%, which is above the state’s average of 7.1%.

Still, the majority of Garden Grove students, or 48%, attended community colleges, which contributes to the lower rates of students taking the SAT and AP tests, said Al Sims, the district’s expert on evaluation and research.

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* BY THE NUMBERS: O.C. fell to eighth in state for SAT scores. A look at counties, districts and schools, B3