O.C. Schools’ Report Card / GRADE 7

UNDERSTANDING THE NUMBERS / READING THE TABLES

In California, almost 4.2 million public school students in grades 2 through 11 took the Stanford 9 standardized tests this spring, for the second year in a row. All of them were tested in reading, math and writing. Students through grade 8 also took a spelling test, and students in higher grades took exams in science and history/social science.

On Thursday, the state Department of Education released scores for each school. The Times today presents scores from selected testing subjects.

Readers who want to know how a school in Orange County is doing can use these scores as a gauge, keeping in mind that not all subjects are represented.

Results for all grades, schools and districts in all categories will be available on the Internet at a state Web site at https://www.cde.ca.gov.

To find your school’s scores:

* Look first for the grade level.

* Then, search down the column to find your school district. Individual schools are listed underneath, in alphabetical order.

* The scores appear to the right of your school’s name. The columns report 1998 and 1999 testing data in the “Reading” and “Math” categories. Use the guide at the top of each column of numbers to determine which category the score is in.

For each test, the chart shows the national percentile rank achieved by students in each school, in both years. (See below: “How to Interpret the Percentile Rank.”)

(Note: State officials warn that strict comparisons of a school’s 1998 and 1999 scores may be misleading. One reason is that Proposition 227 has brought major changes in instruction for students not fluent in English, and the Stanford 9 test is designed to measure achievement by students who are fluent.)

* The chart also has a category labeled “%LEP Tested.” This column of numbers shows the percentage of students who took the test at the school who were classified as “limited English proficient.” Schools with a higher percentage of such students will tend to have lower scores, in part because these students may have had difficulty understanding the questions, which were all in English.

* The far right column, labeled “Std. 99,” shows student performance on questions reflecting California’s standards in language arts. The score is the average number of questions answered correctly by students in that grade. (Students in the grades listed here answered 90 such questions.) Because this is the first year for such questions, there is as yet no definition of what is “good” or “bad.”

Note: An asterisk (*) means the number of students tested was 10 or fewer. A dash (--) means data were unavailable.

* HOW TO INTERPRET THE PERCENTILE RANK

Even among experts, there is no one view on what a percentile rank tells about school performance. But a rank of 50 means that, taken together, the school’s students were right at the national median when measured against a sample of their peers across the country--even though some students at the school may be doing quite well and others poorly.

A percentile rank of 25 or less suggests that many of the students are doing poorly when measured against the national sample. A rank of 75 or above shows that a high percentage of students are doing well. Scores for grades or schools in which few children were tested may appear abnormally high or low, and should be interpreted cautiously.

Comparing the individual scores sent to your home with those of the school will help you gauge where your child ranks against classmates.

Main story, A1.

* ORANGE COUNTY GRADE 7

California

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Statewide 41 43 45 47 19.0 51.2

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Orange County

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Orange County 48 49 55 57 24.0 54.0

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Anaheim Union High

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Anaheim Union High 34 33 41 42 29.6 47.6 Ball Junior High 31 31 39 38 36.2 43.0 Brookhurst Jr. High 36 27 45 41 24.3 44.6 Dale Junior High 28 27 36 38 40.2 44.8 Lexington Jr. High 60 58 60 62 6.2 56.4 Orangeview Junior High 35 27 37 36 23.9 44.6 Oxford High -- 78 -- 82 1.5 69.2 Polaris High 18 22 -- South Junior High 28 25 37 37 38.4 42.4 Sycamore Junior High 19 19 26 28 45.0 22.9 Walker Junior High 44 45 58 55 22.8 52.8

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Brea-Olinda Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Brea-Olinda Unified 67 65 66 67 9.5 61.6 Brea Junior High 67 65 66 67 9.5 61.6

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Buena Park Elementary

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Buena Park Elementary 27 35 34 44 23.3 48.8 Buena Park Junior High 27 35 34 44 23.3 48.8

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Capistrano Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Capistrano Unified 63 61 65 68 7.4 59.2 Aliso Viejo Middle 67 62 64 64 5.7 60.1 Ayer Middle -- 55 -- 62 11.6 57.0 Forster Middle 48 47 49 50 24.1 53.0 Las Flores 68 68 69 75 2.7 61.4 Newhart Elementary 68 66 70 71 1.9 61.2 Niguel Hills Middle 70 65 76 77 3.5 60.1 Shorecliffs Middle 59 63 61 74 4.4 60.1

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Fountain Valley Elementary

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Fountain Valley Elem. 64 67 72 76 5.0 61.7 Fulton Middle 67 72 79 84 1.9 63.8 Masuda Middle 66 65 73 77 10.7 59.3 Moiola Elementary 65 72 67 72 -- 63.1 Talbert Middle 56 63 64 66 2.8 62.0

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Fullerton Elementary

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Fullerton Elementary 52 53 60 64 15.5 54.5 Ladera Vista Junior High 47 56 49 63 12.0 53.4 Nicolas Junior High 37 35 43 44 28.0 46.6 Parks Junior High 71 70 83 83 4.5 63.9

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Garden Grove Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Garden Grove Unified 40 41 51 53 42.7 50.2 Alamitos Intermediate 39 36 55 55 40.6 48.0 Bell Intermediate 59 59 64 62 4.1 58.0 Doig Intermediate 31 26 43 39 65.2 43.5 Fitz Intermediate 32 40 44 50 55.0 49.9 Irvine Intermediate 37 41 48 54 45.2 50.3 Jordan Intermediate 34 39 46 55 54.9 50.1 McGarvin Intermediate 46 46 61 60 35.6 53.5 Ralston Intermediate 42 47 53 56 30.7 52.5 Walton Intermediate 40 42 47 47 44.7 48.8

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Huntington Beach City Elementary

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Huntington Beach City Elementary 63 65 72 70 3.0 60.7 Dwyer Middle 53 60 63 61 4.9 57.9 Sowers Middle 70 69 77 77 1.4 63.0

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Irvine Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Irvine Unified 71 73 78 82 9.3 64.5 Lakeside Middle 72 75 80 82 11.6 65.4 Rancho San Joaquin Mdl 71 73 83 83 15.2 63.4 Sierra Vista Middle 71 71 75 81 8.0 63.2 South Lake Middle 65 70 70 80 10.8 65.0 Venado Middle 74 72 82 83 4.2 65.3 Vista Verde Elementary 80 83 79 87 1.7 70.2

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La Habra City Elementary

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 La Habra City Elem. 37 41 41 47 29.9 49.6 Imperial Middle 37 39 38 43 30.1 48.9 Washington Middle 37 44 43 52 29.7 50.3

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Laguna Beach Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Laguna Beach Unified 72 71 72 72 1.7 62.2 Thurston Middle 72 71 72 72 1.7 62.2

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Los Alamitos Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Los Alamitos Unified 70 70 68 72 1.4 64.2 McAuliffe Middle 67 71 71 73 1.5 64.8 Oak Middle 73 70 66 71 1.3 63.5

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Newport-Mesa Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Newport-Mesa Unified 54 49 57 57 25.6 55.2 Corona Del Mar High 74 72 77 76 2.0 65.1 Costa Mesa High 44 39 44 51 31.3 51.1 Ensign Intermediate 61 53 62 61 17.7 56.7 Tewinkle Middle 44 31 47 39 51.1 48.7

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Ocean View Elementary

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Ocean View Elementary 58 61 72 74 11.3 58.5 Marine View Middle 64 69 74 75 12.2 59.6 Mesa View Middle 59 57 73 68 19.3 58.3 Spring View Middle 60 56 72 70 6.5 57.0 Vista View Middle 48 60 69 82 7.7 59.1

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Orange County Office of Education

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Orange County Office of Education 43 12 40 16 -- 34.7 Juvenile Hall/Community 15 11 16 13 -- 32.9 Special Education * * --

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Orange Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Orange Unified 47 52 52 57 21.3 55.1 Cerro Villa Middle 57 65 59 66 10.1 60.4 El Rancho Middle 66 66 71 71 4.4 62.4 McPherson Magnet -- 69 -- 75 3.6 61.0 Portola Middle 23 28 27 30 50.4 44.6 Richland Continuation High * * -- Santiago Middle 49 51 57 58 20.0 56.0 Yorba Middle 28 29 32 41 40.6 43.3

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Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified 59 60 68 69 11.5 58.8 Kraemer Junior High 36 41 47 49 31.3 50.6 Travis Ranch Elementary 67 71 73 76 0.6 63.7 Tuffree Junior High 63 64 69 74 3.6 60.1 Yorba Junior High 71 69 80 80 2.5 63.1 Yorba Linda Middle 63 67 67 69 2.1 61.6

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Saddleback Valley Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Saddleback Valley Unified 65 65 71 71 6.9 61.5 La Paz Intermediate 68 70 76 74 4.7 62.7 Los Alisos Intermediate 59 64 64 65 12.3 60.0 Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate 70 66 74 74 3.7 63.4 Serrano Intermediate 62 61 69 68 8.1 59.6

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Santa Ana Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Santa Ana Unified 20 22 28 31 61.5 42.4 Carr Intermediate 17 19 22 26 67.4 40.1 Lathrop Intermediate 16 16 25 24 76.4 38.2 Mac Arthur Fundament 45 50 54 54 20.7 54.7 McFadden Intermediate 25 23 33 38 54.5 43.9 Santa Ana Community Day * 6 * 13 45.0 27.8 Sierra Intermediate 16 19 23 25 71.5 38.7 Spurgeon Intermediate 18 17 24 24 63.4 40.4 Villa Fundamental -- 26 -- 32 62.4 45.0 Willard Intermediate 16 21 25 30 69.8 40.8

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Tustin Unified

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Tustin Unified 49 47 50 51 18.1 53.2 Columbus Tustin Middle 34 31 36 35 36.4 46.3 Currie Middle 34 36 31 41 31.8 47.5 Hewes Middle 70 69 74 72 4.4 62.8 Sycamore High -- -- -- Utt Middle 54 49 54 50 -- 54.7

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Westminster Elementary

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Read Read Math Math % LEP Std. Name 98 99 98 99 Tested 99 Westminster Elem. 34 41 46 53 27.8 50.8 Johnson Middle 35 35 44 46 34.7 50.0 Stacey Intermediate 41 47 50 56 19.7 53.0 Warner Middle 27 40 43 57 32.2 48.9

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