Valley Schools Post Top SAT Scores in District

San Fernando Valley high schools earned the top SAT scores in the Los Angeles school system, according to state statistics released Tuesday that also showed Valley campuses sending large numbers of graduates to college.

The state’s annual high school performance report offered an upbeat assessment of most Valley campuses, as it did of schools statewide. Overall, for instance, more California students are taking college prep courses than in the past. And more students are staying in school.

Among regular high schools--as opposed to continuation schools or other special programs--Valley campuses accounted for eight of the top 10 SAT performers in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Van Nuys High and El Camino Real High headed the list, earning average composite SAT scores of 1,113 and 1,054, respectively, on the test in the 1996-97 school year, the latest figures available.

Van Nuys Principal Russ Thompson attributed his school’s performance to hard work, rigorous course work and parental involvement.

“There’s a competitive atmosphere here,” Thompson said. “The students are trying to outdo each other to get the highest scores and to get into prestigious universities.”

But the SAT scores also contained sobering news: At 14 of the Valley’s 17 LAUSD high schools, the percentage of seniors scoring at or above the SAT national average of 1,000 dropped. The dip touched even El Camino Real, long considered an academic powerhouse and home of this year’s national Academic Decathlon champions. The percentage of El Camino seniors meeting the national average dropped by 4% between 1994 and 1996, according to the state report.

El Camino administrators could not be reached for comment.

A perfect score on the SAT is 1,600. The test is a key variable in university admissions and often considered a good indicator of how a student will perform in college.

Valley educators spent Tuesday trying to interpret the state report. They said an initial review of the new statistics mirrored what they called a trend of Valley schools excelling on the SAT test scores and other indicators of progress.

Valley high schools, for instance, were among those sending the largest percentages of seniors to public colleges in the most recent statistics.

More than half of the students at 11 of the 17 LAUSD Valley campuses went to California public colleges in the fall of 1996.

Granada Hills High led the way: 80% of its seniors advanced to public college in 1996, the highest figure in the district. Nearly 22% of its seniors went to University of California campuses, again the top figure in the district.

Granada Hills High administrators said they promote high expectations. The school began eliminating remedial classes in 1994, about a year ahead of other LAUSD high schools. In the ninth grade, for instance, rigorous biology classes have replaced easier life-science courses.

And the school encourages students to take the SAT: 73% of Granada Hills’ seniors took the test in 1996-97. Only the Westside’s Westchester High School, at 79%, was higher among regular high schools.

“In today’s economy, all students need to be prepared for a post-secondary education,” said Granada Hills High Assistant Principal Jim Gwin. College preparatory classes are no longer just for college, he said, but for careers.

But the performance of Valley schools varied.

Cleveland High School in Reseda, for instance, registered the largest drop in students taking college prep classes of any LAUSD high school between 1994 and 1996--a 27% decline. Overall, just 37% of the school’s seniors completed the rigorous course work in 1996, one of the lowest percentages in the district.

Cleveland High also incurred a 5.2% drop in the percentage of seniors going on to college during the same period. Even so, 57% of its seniors moved on to a public college in the fall of 1996, a rate above average for LAUSD schools.

Cleveland High administrators could not be reached for comment.

But school board member Julie Korenstein said performance is affected by many factors, including socioeconomics, parental involvement and the English proficiency of students.

“There are a thousand variables,” said Korenstein, whose district includes Cleveland High. “It’s difficult to draw meaningful conclusions because there are so many factors to consider.”

Educators also questioned the validity of scores in the report. For instance, the report lumps magnet programs together with traditional campuses that house the programs, a practice that can drive overall scores up at a particular school.

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Times staff writer Ray Herndon contributed to this story.

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Head of the Class

This chart shows the average SAT score for the top 10 performing schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The score is a composite of the verbal and math portions of the test.

SCHOOL: AVERAGE SAT SCORE

Van Nuys Senior: 1113

El Camino Real: 1054

University Senior: 1029

William H. Taft: 1021

N. Narbonne: 1001

Granada Hills: 995

Chatsworth: 985

G. Cleveland: 974

North Hollywood: 965

U.S. Grant: 958

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In Thursday’s Times: A review of high schools in districts neighboring the San Fernando Valley.

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* STUDYING MORE: More California students are staying in school and taking college prep courses. B1

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* STATE REPORT CARD: B2-3