Language Bears on Test Scores

The wide gap in basic skills between students with limited English and those fluent in the language was starkly reflected in the latest round of standardized test scores made public by Orange County school districts Thursday.

A review of the Stanford 9 test scores from 10 school systems confirmed what educators had predicted would happen with an all-English test: Districts with larger populations of limited-English students had lower scores.

In the Anaheim Union High School District, for instance, eighth-graders who are native English speakers ranked in the 51st percentile nationally in reading. But the limited-English students ranked in a low 16th percentile, dragging the district average down to the 37th percentile.

“It’s pretty substantial,” Anaheim Union Supt. Jan Billings said of the difference in performance. “It’s probably not surprising.”

In this 26,000-student district, where 31% of students speak limited English, administrators contend that the testing program unfairly forces some students to take an exam they barely understand.

Meanwhile, districts with relatively few limited-English students appeared to post scores solidly above the national average. In the Fountain Valley School District, where 13% of students are limited-English, eighth-graders scored in the 64th percentile overall.

The new state testing program, championed by Gov. Pete Wilson, raised controversy by requiring virtually all California students to take the English-language exam.

The test, published by Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement, is scored based on the performance of a national sample of students. About 2% of those students were classified as limited-English. In California, by contrast, a quarter of the state’s 5.6 million students are limited-English.

Also Thursday, overall test scores were made public for four more Orange County school systems: La Habra City School District, Anaheim Union High School District, Tustin Unified School District and Huntington Beach Union High School District. Partial results were released for Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Those new scores showed mixed results, with some school districts scoring above the national average and others below it.

Even within districts, there were some striking differences. In the Newport-Mesa district, for example, Corona del Mar juniors ranked in the 63rd percentile in reading; the school, in one of the wealthiest parts of Newport Beach, has 2% limited-English students. At Estancia High, juniors ranked in the 23rd percentile; 52% of that Costa Mesa school’s juniors speak limited English.

One surprise that showed up in a handful of districts was that students fluent in English as a second language scored as well as, sometimes even better than, native English speakers.

For example, Huntington Beach 11th-graders fluent in English as a second language ranked in the 59th percentile in reading and 78th percentile in math. Their native-English counterparts scored in the 52th and 60th percentiles, respectively. A similar pattern was reflected in all Huntington Beach high school grades.

*

Similar trends were noted in districts such as Huntington Beach City and Cypress.

In the Cypress School District, fourth-graders who had graduated from the ranks of the “limited English proficient” scored in the 71st percentile in reading, while their peers overall scored in the 56th percentile. The achievement gap was even greater in math: 79th percentile for the former limited-English students compared with the 59th percentile for the grade as a whole.

And in the La Habra City School District, eighth-graders who had once been designated as limited-English scored in the 48th percentile in reading, higher than the 38th percentile posted by the whole class and almost as high as the 50th percentile scored by native-English students.

In Huntington Beach City School District, one administrator said, the data showed a similar trend. Gary Rutherford, director of curriculum and instruction, said the district’s students who had transitioned into English fluency are performing “at or above their grade-level peers.”

Rutherford said that indicated district policy is working. “You want to know, were we putting them into the mainstream program too early? Too soon? Too late? And this data says that it is [working] correctly.”

Nearly two-thirds of the county’s 27 school districts are still waiting for results, including large ones such as Santa Ana Unified, Garden Grove Unified and Capistrano Unified. A full picture of the county’s performance on the test probably will not emerge until the end of the month. Statewide results are expected by June 30.

This spring, California students in grades two to 11 were tested in the areas of reading, math, and language mechanics. In the upper grades, students were also tested in science and social science.

*

The scores are given as percentiles, which rank students and schools against a nationally selected group. Those in the 50th percentile, for example, scored higher than half the pool and lower than the other half.

Anaheim’s Billings said she will be poring over the results to learn exactly how English fluency--or lack of it--affects student achievement. Overall, the district’s scores were well below the national average--ranging from the high 20s to the low 40s in percentile rankings.

“Until you determine what is the problem, how are you ever going to create solutions for improvement?” Billings said.

The testing data provide breakdowns of specific skills in each subject to help administrators pinpoint students’ major strengths and weaknesses, they said. For example, Anaheim Union students scored poorly in the sections on synonyms and reading comprehension.

Educators said the first year’s results will be more useful when compared with scores in following years. Parents will also receive reports on individual student scores. The last statewide test, called the California Learning Assessment System, was eliminated in 1994 after it was criticized as being subjective and technically flawed.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Grading the Schools

New data emerged Thursday on how some Orange County school districts fared in the state’s new standardized test of basic skills, the Stanford 9. Full or partial results were available from five more school districts, bringing the total number of districts with scores made public to 10, out of 27 countywide. In addition, detailed information for several of the districts was made available on how students with limited English skills performed compared to native English speakers. Full statewide scores and scores from the remaining Orange County districts are expected to be made public by June 30. The test was given to students in grades two to 11 from mid-March to mid-May.

Editor’s Note: The percentile figures show how student scores ranked, on average, against a nationally selected group, in spelling and cumulative reading, language and math. High school students were also tested in reading, language, math, science and social studies. Those at the 50th percentile, for example scored higher than on-half of the pool and lower than the other half.

“LEP” designates students who are limited English proficient. “R-FEP” refers to students who were formerly “LEP” but have been reclassified as fluent English proficient, and “FEP” refers in general to students who have a native language other than English but are also fluent in English.

Below are 1998 scores expressed as national percentile rankings.

Anaheim Union High

*--*

Junior High Grade Read Lang. Math Science Social Ball 7 31 39 39 34 33 8 37 40 46 39 41 Brookhurst 7 36 42 45 39 43 8 37 37 42 39 43 Dale 7 28 36 36 34 31 8 30 34 37 34 34 Lexington 7 60 62 60 59 58 8 62 61 62 63 63 Orangeview 7 35 42 37 42 37 8 38 40 41 47 40 South 7 28 34 37 33 30 8 33 35 42 36 37 Sycamore 7 19 24 26 25 27 8 23 26 30 26 29 Walker 7 44 60 58 49 45 8 45 56 58 54 47 District 7 34 41 41 39 37 Total 8 37 40 44 41 41

*--*

*--*

High School Grade Read Lang. Math Science Social Anaheim 9 16 32 31 26 27 10 13 19 25 24 20 11 19 28 31 24 34 Cypress 9 46 56 66 52 47 10 45 52 61 57 49 11 49 52 64 58 67 Katella 9 28 42 44 36 38 10 26 31 44 37 37 11 31 38 48 41 54 Kennedy 9 42 56 66 47 47 10 40 47 62 52 50 11 36 47 58 46 60 Loara 9 28 43 48 38 36 10 28 33 41 43 34 11 35 42 47 43 54 Magnolia 9 21 37 36 35 32 10 19 27 36 39 27 11 27 36 39 37 47 Savanna 9 32 47 55 44 43 10 28 35 45 42 34 11 36 41 44 43 52 Western 9 25 46 46 37 39 10 23 35 40 37 39 11 27 40 39 40 53 Gilbert 9 16 25 23 26 26 (Cont.) 10 14 15 18 26 20 11 16 20 20 24 30 Polaris 9 13 23 23 24 23 (Alter.) 10 18 19 23 30 25 11 26 30 25 33 40 District 9 28 43 47 38 37 Total 10 26 33 42 40 34 11 31 38 44 40 51

*--*

*--*

District Read Lang. Math Spell Science Social Grade 8 LEP 16 20 27 15 21 24 ENG ONLY 51 52 51 40 53 50 FEP 51 54 59 46 52 54 R-FEP 58 66 70 52 61 62 Grade 11 LEP 9 15 23 10 19 28 ENG ONLY 43 47 49 46 50 59 FEP 46 55 65 54 50 65 R-FEP 33 41 47 40 37 52

*--*

Cypress Elementary

*--*

District Read Lang. Math Spell Grade 4 LEP 30 43 41 42 ENG ONLY 58 61 59 55 FEP 63 76 76 76 R-FEP 71 81 79 82

*--*

Fountain Valley

*--*

District Read Lang. Math Spell Grade 4 LEP 39 50 51 52 ENG ONLY 67 71 68 64 FEP 64 75 72 76 R-FEP N/A N/A N/A N/A Grade 8 LEP 23 28 39 19 ENG ONLY 66 72 70 53 FEP 69 77 78 67 R-FEP N/A N/A N/A N/A

*--*

Fullerton Joint Union

*--*

District Read Lang. Math Spell Science Social Grade 11 LEP 16 26 41 6 29 38 ENG ONLY 47 54 56 21 54 63 FEP 53 66 70 40 58 71 R-FEP 20 27 32 N/A 34 44

*--*

Huntington Beach Unified

*--*

High School Grade Read Lang. Math Science Social Edison 9 53 66 66 63 64 10 50 57 63 65 61 11 52 60 66 65 75 Fountain 9 51 69 72 64 60 Valley 10 48 59 67 65 56 11 51 61 68 63 72 Huntington 9 45 60 61 57 49 Beach 10 48 53 65 59 50 11 51 56 63 62 67 Marina 9 48 66 67 58 54 10 48 56 65 65 53 11 52 59 62 62 71 Ocean View 9 37 57 54 43 47 10 30 39 47 40 39 11 41 51 52 48 60 Westminster 9 23 42 50 39 33 10 21 27 48 38 30 11 25 35 50 37 47 District 9 42 60 62 54 51 Total 10 40 47 59 56 48 11 44 52 59 55 64

*--*

*--*

District Read Lang. Math Spell Science Social Grade 4 LEP N/A N/A N/A N/A ENG ONLY 43 51 44 43 FEP N/A N/A N/A N/A R-FEP N/A N/A N/A N/A Grade 8 LEP N/A N/A N/A N/A ENG ONLY N/A N/A N/A N/A FEP 84 81 85 80 R-FEP N/A N/A N/A N/A Grade 11 LEP 13 23 41 N/A 26 34 ENG ONLY 52 57 60 N/A 61 70 FEP 59 70 78 N/A 70 78 R-FEP 56 74 82 N/A 69 71

*--*

La Habra City

*--*

District Read Lang. Math Spell Science Social Grade 4 LEP 10 19 21 8 ENG ONLY 44 49 56 40 FEP 44 46 46 41 R-FEP 47 55 65 49 Grade 8 LEP 12 14 23 13 19 21 ENG ONLY 50 52 47 38 52 49 FEP 50 54 54 37 47 53 R-FEP 48 53 52 38 47 48

*--*

*--*

Grade Read Lang. Spell Math District 2 30 34 33 39 Total 3 29 34 34 48 4 30 38 26 44 5 31 41 28 44 6 39 42 31 47 7 37 47 37 41 8 38 40 30 41

*--*

Newport-Mesa Unified

*--*

High School Grade Read Lang. Math Science Social Corona 9 63 72 70 64 65 del Mar 10 54 64 64 63 60 11 63 65 59 66 66 Costa 9 36 50 54 46 40 Mesa 10 38 46 42 43 43 11 37 46 45 40 57 Estancia 9 26 43 41 34 38 10 25 29 35 37 33 11 23 30 34 28 37 Newport 9 48 56 61 53 58 Harbor 10 50 54 54 58 55 11 47 50 53 52 68 District 9 43 55 56 48 50 10 42 48 48 51 48 11 42 47 47 46 59

*--*

*--*

District Read Lang. Math Spell Science Social Grade 11 LEP 12 18 22 N/A 18 26 ENG ONLY 52 55 54 N/A 55 67 FEP N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A R-FEP 50 57 55 N/A 46 66

*--*

Tustin Unified

*--*

Schools Grade Read Lang. Spell Math District 2 47 51 45 53 Total 3 43 50 46 55 4 44 51 42 46 5 40 48 42 44 6 48 49 48 54 7 49 55 47 50 8 52 55 40 49

*--*

*--*

High School Grade Read Lang. Math Science Social District 9 37 50 53 45 47 10 37 42 51 47 44 11 35 45 48 44 54

*--*

Source: Individual school districts and Orange County Department of Education; Compiled by GENA PASILLAS and JENNIFER TREXLER / Los Angeles Times