Improvements in L.A. Schools

It is clear from your April 4 article (“Few Hold Positive View of L.A. School Board”) that we need to make a great effort to remind parents, community members and officials that our schools and students are improving.

Yes, it is true that current test scores in the Los Angeles school district are statistically in the bottom third of national standardized test scores. But I should also point out that with our new emphasis on student achievement, overall test scores improved by 2 percentile points last year, a major accomplishment for any urban school district. This gain is right on target toward my goal of increasing standardized test scores by 8 percentile points over four years, which would put us into the middle third of test scores nationally.

Here are some facts to help the community understand the impact that our schools are making: In addition to improved test scores, the number of students dropping out of school declined again last year to 9.7%, almost 2 percentage points lower than the previous year. Actual attendance has improved to 91.8%. The percentage of our high school graduates going on to college continues to outpace the state and national averages, with 80% of our graduates indicating acceptance to four-year or community colleges or occupational training institutions.

The percentage of our students taking advanced placement courses to gain college credits remains above the national average, and many of our schools have been pioneers in motivating more students to meet the entrance requirements of the University of California. In fact, 34% of the LAUSD students who applied for admission to UCLA last year were accepted, compared with 30.2% for those applying from private schools.

These are all solid indicators which suggest that, despite the many challenges of being an urban school district, we are moving in the right direction.

SUPT. RUBEN ZACARIAS

LAUSD