SAT Results Are a Mixed Bag in County

The latest Scholastic Assessment Test results show a mixed trend of gains and dips in scores from Orange County’s Class of 1998--with marked improvements in Santa Ana high schools and plummeting figures at most Newport-Mesa Unified campuses.

Data released Tuesday by the College Board, which administers the SATs, showed that California’s average inched up by three points, bringing the total score to 1013 and continuing a five-year incremental upward trend. Meanwhile, a majority of Orange County school districts--ranging from Irvine Unified to Orange Unified--landed much higher marks.

Irvine continued to rank at the top of the county with an overall average of 1159.

“We have super teachers, hard-working kids and supportive parents and that seems to be a formula that produces terrific results,” said Irvine Unified Supt. Patricia Clark White.

The SAT, a national standardized test with a possible total score of 1600, is used in admissions to many colleges. It is made up of two tests, verbal and math, each with a possible top score of 800.

The SAT is viewed as a way of measuring how prepared a student may be for higher education. But some education officials warn that it provides a limited glimpse of a student’s achievements.

“It is one predictor of how a student will do in college, but it does not provide the full picture of a student’s abilities,” said Patrick Levens, director of secondary education in Capistrano Unified, where the district’s SAT average rose by 15 points, to a total of 1095.

Other districts that saw improved SAT scores included Santa Ana Unified, where numbers climbed at three of four high schools. Valley High School posted the highest growth in the county, with a 61-point improvement, bringing its total score to 920.

But Santa Ana scores remained far below the state averages.

For Loara High in Anaheim, the total SAT score jumped by 60 points, boosting its average to 1044. This was a dramatic change from a downward trend the school was seeing in previous years, Principal John Dahlem said.

Stepped-up SAT prep efforts in English and math courses apparently paid off, Dahlem said. Teachers drilled students particularly on reading comprehension and vocabulary to help raise scores.

“We’re an urban school,” said Dahlem, whose campus faces a turnover rate of 45% annually, the largest rate in the Anaheim Union High School District. “So, this is something we’re very proud of. It proves that if you give the kids an opportunity, they’ll do a good job.”

As in previous years, Irvine’s University High maintained the top spot with the county’s highest total score of 1223, up by 15 points from the previous year.

“When you’re at the top, it just takes so much more to move up,” said University High Principal Diana Schmelzer. “So, I am very delighted with this year’s scores.”

But the news wasn’t good for some other districts. Scores slipped in all but one school in Newport-Mesa Unified. The worst drop was at Estancia High where the total score fell by 43 points.

In Garden Grove Unified, scores sank in four of the district’s seven high schools, a troubling change from improved marks last year. Pacifica High, one of the district’s most celebrated campuses, saw a 58 point drop in the total average, the worst in its school system.

* OVERALL GAINS

Most O.C. graduates outscore their peers across state. A1

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SAT Results

For Orange County schools, by district. Figures in bold represent district averages.

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1998 1997 Change Seniors District Verbal Math total total in total tested Nation 505 512 1017 1016 +1 43% State 497 516 1013 1010 +3 47% ANAHEIM UNION 483 530 1013 1004 +9 34% Anaheim 438 475 913 865 +48 20% Cypress 503 550 1053 1074 -21 39% Katella 453 494 947 1028 -81 28% Kennedy 495 565 1060 1084 -24 48% Loara 496 548 1044 984 +60 41% Magnolia 474 511 985 983 +2 33% Savanna 472 506 978 932 +46 29% Western 487 511 998 966 +32 26% BREA OLINDA* n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a CAPISTRANO UNIFIED 536 559 1095 1080 +15 51% Aliso Niguel 531 656 1096 1085 +11 57% Capistrano Valley 550 574 1124 1068 +56 46% Dana Hills 542 554 1096 1085 +11 50% San Clemente 520 537 1057 1078 -21 53% FULLERTON JOINT UNION n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Buena Park n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Fullerton 486 513 999 1038 -39 n/a La Habra 459 480 939 962 -23 n/a Sonora 528 534 1062 1020 +42 n/a Sunny Hills 548 613 1161 1157 +4 n/a Troy 550 598 1148 1109 +39 n/a GARDEN GROVE UNIFIED 472 531 1003 1012 -9 32% Bolsa Grande 439 529 968 1025 -57 28% Garden Grove 494 544 1038 1010 +28 39% La Quinta 463 547 1010 1050 -40 42% Los Amigos 466 528 994 988 +6 26% Pacifica 502 532 1034 1092 -58 46% Rancho Alamitos 457 506 963 982 -19 26% Santiago 428 501 929 913 +16 16% HUNTINGTON BEACH U. 515 552 1067 1064 +3 49% Edison 518 552 1070 1068 +2 59% Fountain Valley 527 567 1094 1082 +12 56% Huntington Beach 526 557 1083 1054 +29 45% Ocean View 498 519 1017 1073 -56 43% Westminster 459 532 991 990 +1 33% IRVINE UNIFIED 556 603 1159 1156 +3 69% Irvine 535 577 1112 1130 -18 n/a University 586 637 1223 1208 +15 n/a Woodbridge 539 599 1138 1116 +22 n/a LAGUNA BEACH* 568 565 1133 1092 +41 67% LOS ALAMITOS* 524 541 1065 1076 -11 n/a NEWPORT-MESA UNIFIED 521 554 1075 1077 -2 41% Corona del Mar 550 583 1133 1109 +24 n/a Costa Mesa 478 522 1000 1012 -12 n/a Estancia 499 526 1025 1068 -43 n/a Newport Harbor 515 542 1057 1090 -33 n/a ORANGE UNIFIED 513 548 1061 1071 -10 n/a Canyon 510 551 1060 1090 -30 57% El Modena 520 550 1070 1056 +14 n/a Orange 464 497 961 997 -36 31% Villa Park 540 573 1113 1101 +12 51% PLACENTIA-YORBA LINDA 520 554 1074 1091 -17 n/a El Dorado 530 560 1090 1069 +21 n/a Esperanza 520 553 1073 1113 -40 n/a Valencia 499 545 1044 1066 -22 n/a SADDLEBACK VALLEY 533 567 1100 1104 -4 57% El Toro 528 557 1085 1083 +2 62% Laguna Hills 539 586 1125 1136 -11 82% Mission Viejo 532 558 1090 1112 -22 57% Trabuco Hills 532 565 1097 1088 +9 62% SANTA ANA UNIFIED 421 458 879 867 +12 26% Century 412 435 847 836 +11 28% Saddleback 442 480 922 911 +11 30% Santa Ana 383 436 819 847 -28 25% Valley 442 478 920 859 +61 21%

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* These districts have only one high school.

Sources: Individual school districts and the College Board