Irvine Sees Increase in Stanford 9 Test Scores

Standardized test scores rose from already high levels in the Irvine Unified School District--particularly at the district’s elementary schools, where several grades improved their scores by higher margins than high schoolers.

In spots, the scores were stellar. One elementary school had no percentile rankings lower than 76th.

“Given how high we scored in the past, we’re pleased with these results,” said Dean Waldfogel, deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “It’s very difficult when you score high to continue to improve. It’s much easier if you can start midpack and go from there.”

Gains varied dramatically from grade to grade and school to school, although scores in all grades taking the Stanford 9 were well above the national average.

Although the scores at three of the district’s four high schools remained high--mostly in the 60th and 70th percentiles--only at the SELF Alternative High School did they improve by 10 or more percentile points. SELF’s overall scores remained low, however, hovering mostly in the 20th and 30th percentiles. Alternative schools specialize in students who have run into academic or disciplinary problems at other high schools.

The district has not completed its analysis of the test scores, but possibly the elementary curriculum is more in line with the test questions than is high school course work, Waldfogel said.

Some of the Irvine elementary schools turned in impressive scores at every grade, on every subject.

The percentile rankings at Turtle Rock Elementary School, for example, were in the 80s and 90s; the lowest was the 76th percentile, in third-grade reading.

Turtle Rock Principal Sharon Adele attributed the school’s success to a combination of dedicated teachers and strong parental support.

“The raw material that we get also is of a fine quality,” she said. “To me that makes for a wonderful recipe.”

The Stanford 9 exam tests elementary and middle school students in reading, language, math and spelling. High school students are tested in science and social science, but not spelling. Results are expressed as percentiles, which rank students against a nationally selected group of peers. The 50th percentile is the national median, with half the pool scoring higher and half scoring lower.

At Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, officials were pleased by strong elementary and middle school scores in the 50th and 60th percentiles but were baffled by the comparatively low reading scores of its ninth-graders.

Students who scored in the 60th percentile for reading last year as eighth-graders were in the 48th percentile this year.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense, so we need to pull apart the data and do an investigation into why that’s happening,” said Ann O’Rourke, director of educational services. “It’s clear we need to make some changes in our high school reading program.”

Several Placentia-Yorba Linda schools, however, showed dramatic improvement, raising their scores from last year by 10 to 20 percentile points.

Scores at Glenview Elementary School rose across the board, particularly in reading. Fourth-grade scores made a 20-point jump from the 51st percentile to the 71st.

Although its overall scores were below the district average for the second year, Ruby Drive Elementary School made some of the most impressive gains in the district.

Second-grade scores jumped by double digits in every category, and fourth-grade spelling scores rose 27 percentile points.

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Irvine, Placentia-Yorba Linda Show Improvement

Irvine Unified School District’s already strong standardized score tests rose to even higher levels in the 1999 Stanford 9 exam. Turtle Rock Elementary scored most impressively, with the lowest mark in any grade still in the 76th percentile. Scores in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified District were also generally improved. The following percentile listings show how scores ranked, on average, against a nationally selected group. A score in the 99th percentile, for example, is equal to or higher than all but 1% of the comparison group’s.

IRVINE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

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Reading Math Language Spelling School Grade 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 Districtwide 2 70 74 72 79 74 78 67 72 3 68 71 74 79 71 77 63 72 4 73 74 73 77 73 76 71 73 5 72 74 77 79 75 77 67 70 6 76 78 84 87 76 79 72 77 7 71 73 78 82 78 80 70 71 8 72 71 77 79 75 78 61 61 Alderwood 2 85 89 89 89 86 90 81 86 Elementary 3 78 87 79 92 84 90 74 86 4 77 76 72 84 80 81 77 74 5 74 77 85 82 73 81 69 72 6 75 79 83 90 65 83 73 79 Bonita Canyon 2 80 86 86 87 87 89 77 75 Elementary 3 82 82 82 89 81 85 71 78 4 80 82 81 83 73 84 75 79 5 79 82 88 88 77 82 75 77 6 78 83 92 91 83 83 74 81 Brywood 2 72 75 74 75 77 80 69 71 Elementary 3 67 70 69 79 69 82 63 72 4 75 78 77 79 77 83 78 80 5 72 74 76 83 79 81 67 73 6 77 79 86 92 79 83 72 77 Canyon View * 2 na 79 na 85 na 85 na 78 Elementary 3 na 74 na 85 na 79 na 73 4 na 80 na 84 na 83 na 86 5 na 79 na 84 na 87 na 85 College Park 2 69 66 70 74 67 69 63 70 Elementary 3 57 67 75 83 59 78 61 72 4 65 55 78 79 74 72 70 62 5 59 70 74 87 63 78 62 69 6 66 64 80 86 71 71 67 72 Culverdale 2 51 69 54 80 53 66 48 67 Elementary 3 56 54 65 76 64 65 54 65 4 59 51 67 60 64 63 61 51 5 57 56 73 66 62 63 60 55 6 65 73 84 89 70 77 60 72 Deerfield 2 76 81 82 86 77 79 81 78 Elementary 3 58 69 65 85 63 77 63 81 4 82 80 85 80 81 82 85 88 5 77 77 77 83 74 80 69 75 6 83 75 88 82 84 76 80 77 Eastshore 2 78 71 84 81 83 74 69 72 Elementary 3 72 76 82 84 78 82 68 76 4 84 82 85 85 79 81 77 84 5 84 77 88 82 85 78 77 71 6 81 84 86 90 78 79 74 81 El Camino Real 2 67 69 62 73 73 77 64 65 Elementary 3 70 70 67 74 70 76 63 66 4 76 74 65 72 70 74 68 69 5 68 73 75 73 74 76 64 68 6 74 80 80 87 73 76 67 78 El Toro ** 2 45 42 41 56 63 74 55 51 Elementary 3 51 59 54 53 51 55 49 42 4 52 na 44 na 59 na 50 na 5 47 51 39 35 54 62 50 58 6 41 na 42 na 57 na 45 na Greentree 2 61 69 61 79 70 74 61 66 Elementary 3 71 70 79 79 76 73 66 74 4 71 72 74 81 72 71 69 72 5 59 61 55 71 70 69 64 60 6 74 67 83 84 74 80 78 77 Los Naranjos 2 62 77 67 79 68 85 58 75 Elementary 3 57 66 72 71 61 72 55 72 4 65 63 67 58 65 70 60 49 5 61 69 63 67 69 79 53 64 6 68 65 76 71 70 73 69 69 Meadowpark 2 68 77 63 81 72 81 65 76 Elementary 3 73 71 76 73 77 76 66 70 4 72 73 65 75 70 74 65 71 5 75 75 80 77 78 78 66 71 6 75 77 85 85 81 75 73 74 Northwood 2 65 63 65 59 70 67 60 60 Elementary 3 61 66 77 74 67 67 56 66 4 72 55 77 65 75 62 67 58 5 70 76 80 81 77 79 62 69 6 75 68 81 82 74 73 73 63 Santiago Hills 2 77 76 84 82 82 81 74 79 Elementary 3 79 77 87 84 83 82 71 73 4 82 85 81 87 80 82 82 82 5 82 80 85 82 86 82 76 80 6 79 88 87 91 76 89 73 85 Springbrook 2 65 60 66 65 64 61 56 60 Elementary 3 63 69 62 74 66 71 57 67 4 64 79 62 83 60 75 57 74 5 69 65 80 59 68 68 69 60 6 70 80 84 94 73 80 65 84 Stonecreek 2 69 68 69 76 77 81 72 68 Elementary 3 69 70 73 67 70 74 65 67 4 69 70 63 70 71 76 71 74 5 72 72 81 82 77 76 73 72 6 74 72 90 86 78 80 76 78 Turtle Rock 2 75 80 79 88 78 84 73 81 Elementary 3 74 76 80 85 79 85 68 80 4 80 85 83 87 84 82 78 81 5 86 81 88 89 88 88 78 81 6 87 91 94 96 85 92 85 89 University Park 2 61 65 58 63 63 67 65 65 Elementary 3 57 67 64 73 62 69 59 69 4 69 61 64 64 70 66 71 55 5 58 68 67 63 69 62 55 55 6 69 63 78 75 73 63 63 61 Vista Verde 2 76 79 82 83 81 83 69 71 Elementary 3 70 79 78 82 73 81 59 75 4 82 79 80 79 79 77 79 68 5 77 85 76 88 73 85 65 74 6 85 85 89 85 76 80 79 75 7 80 83 79 87 83 86 77 74 8 82 81 74 83 83 83 66 67 Westpark 2 70 79 77 85 69 75 67 73 Elementary 3 67 64 72 70 71 68 59 60 4 71 66 63 67 63 70 67 64 5 68 73 74 71 71 76 59 72 6 80 74 76 80 71 68 70 70 Westwood Basics 2 80 86 80 88 83 85 67 80 Elementary 3 75 70 79 75 78 77 75 67 4 71 81 66 79 70 75 75 83 5 68 68 67 80 66 74 66 65 6 78 76 83 86 75 76 80 74 Lakeside 7 72 75 80 82 79 78 72 64 Middle 8 74 75 80 82 76 78 61 70 Rancho San Joaquin 7 71 73 83 83 79 78 69 70 Middle 8 68 71 75 82 71 77 56 59 Sierra Vista 7 71 71 75 81 74 77 67 68 Middle 8 75 71 77 79 74 76 64 56 South Lake Mid. 7 65 70 70 80 74 83 62 74 8 70 66 74 70 76 78 56 59 Venado Mid. 7 74 72 82 83 80 82 75 75 8 74 72 78 81 78 81 68 66

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Reading Math Language Science School Grade 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 Districtwide 9 63 60 82 81 74 75 66 65 10 59 61 73 77 64 68 65 70 11 61 58 79 78 78 67 68 67 Irvine High 9 65 59 82 79 75 76 67 67 10 57 61 66 74 63 72 63 71 11 63 54 77 74 69 66 70 67 SELF 9 32 16 47 25 34 33 37 22 10 17 27 22 40 10 15 20 38 11 23 23 22 31 22 27 28 27 University High 9 67 67 88 88 79 79 71 69 10 69 67 86 86 73 72 75 75 11 65 67 88 89 73 75 76 78 Woodbridge High 9 57 56 76 77 67 70 63 62 10 54 59 68 75 59 63 59 65 11 60 56 78 74 67 64 63 58

Social science School 1998 1999 Districtwide 71 68 67 68 76 75 Irvine High 73 70 62 67 77 74 SELF 29 21 28 27 26 35 University High 77 73 81 78 79 80 Woodbridge High 62 61 58 61 76 77

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* Opened this year

** Some grades had fewer than 10 students

*** 1998-99 was first year of operation

PLACENTIA-YORBA LINDA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

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Reading Math Language Spelling School Grade 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 Districtwide 2 59 60 60 68 61 66 57 59 3 55 56 59 64 57 59 52 56 4 58 59 58 62 59 60 55 57 5 57 56 60 64 61 62 56 55 6 60 63 69 74 61 66 59 63 7 59 60 68 69 66 68 59 57 8 60 62 66 68 62 65 50 52 Brookhaven 2 57 74 58 78 68 78 59 67 Elementary 3 62 57 73 79 66 71 56 60 4 73 67 75 66 78 66 72 53 5 73 64 80 81 75 73 68 61 6 67 78 84 92 72 87 69 76 Bryant Ranch 2 60 69 74 78 70 79 63 72 Elementary 3 62 65 70 75 64 67 60 67 4 68 65 66 69 65 68 67 65 5 70 61 72 70 71 69 66 65 6 77 na 83 na 71 na 78 na Fairmont 2 73 73 74 79 77 81 72 72 Elementary 3 68 68 71 77 67 73 66 68 4 76 79 76 79 71 75 73 79 5 74 74 81 83 76 76 78 72 6 80 83 91 93 83 84 82 86 Glenknoll 2 71 74 76 80 70 79 69 72 Elementary 3 57 71 67 84 57 74 60 69 4 77 73 82 75 74 69 72 69 5 71 77 74 82 67 76 68 76 6 72 72 80 83 75 74 76 73 Glenview 2 63 69 64 79 61 72 64 66 Elementary 3 57 63 58 71 54 66 56 68 4 54 61 51 71 54 65 59 65 5 54 52 48 69 55 57 57 54 6 59 58 65 68 55 67 60 61 Golden 2 61 61 71 76 64 74 48 61 Elementary 3 57 61 61 71 53 63 51 56 4 77 80 77 78 75 74 75 78 5 78 75 79 76 77 73 76 74 6 76 84 84 89 75 79 74 84 Linda Vista 2 62 72 76 79 64 76 59 69 Elementary 3 60 66 71 76 66 67 55 65 4 65 64 63 69 61 64 55 57 5 68 70 79 77 81 77 61 61 Mabel Paine 2 58 50 61 64 69 60 53 57 Elementary 3 58 64 59 72 62 71 53 57 4 56 59 45 67 54 58 52 55 5 61 52 44 49 71 50 54 51 Morse 2 38 50 37 53 37 66 42 52 Elementary 3 43 41 44 44 46 41 43 50 4 50 43 46 48 54 51 47 48 5 41 44 42 60 48 59 41 41 6 44 49 60 62 53 51 47 48 Rio Vista 2 32 31 40 39 34 30 37 30 Elementary 3 33 26 44 33 41 32 36 37 4 21 28 24 32 28 35 21 25 5 22 23 24 29 29 26 26 25 Rose Drive 2 63 56 63 60 59 61 57 59 Elementary 3 63 62 63 74 66 64 53 56 4 73 64 64 69 74 70 66 57 5 65 70 62 70 71 74 61 63 Ruby Drive 2 38 54 29 50 37 55 37 51 Elementary 3 37 35 33 43 36 41 35 44 4 25 44 25 45 32 53 17 44 5 29 35 24 36 38 40 30 30 6 29 31 29 50 32 40 23 33 Sierra Vista 2 61 63 58 75 63 72 58 71 Elementary 3 63 63 70 71 67 67 61 58 4 72 62 68 69 70 70 67 67 5 65 64 75 69 72 65 71 63 6 68 69 74 73 71 72 69 74 Topaz 2 34 30 31 44 30 37 26 30 Elementary 3 27 25 26 34 25 27 23 24 4 24 26 32 31 27 35 22 21 5 19 23 26 31 27 25 18 25 6 17 26 30 44 19 40 20 20 Travis Ranch 2 71 68 79 78 72 74 67 64 Elementary 3 70 74 72 76 69 71 60 69 4 68 71 66 72 71 68 69 67 5 70 61 76 73 71 66 63 65 6 70 73 74 81 73 75 62 68 7 67 71 73 76 76 80 65 65 8 67 67 74 76 69 72 56 55 Tynes 2 23 40 23 51 24 45 33 39 Elementary 3 23 21 36 31 35 26 27 21 4 32 27 36 42 45 39 29 27 5 24 29 25 42 33 43 26 28 6 32 32 41 48 41 47 32 36 Van Buren 2 67 71 73 79 72 76 67 66 Elementary 3 66 64 66 67 66 60 65 66 4 59 69 65 74 55 64 62 71 5 61 61 74 67 68 65 66 63 6 60 63 79 85 60 69 57 66 Wagner 2 66 62 63 71 63 63 55 55 Elementary 3 59 67 62 78 59 62 54 67 4 65 59 67 58 58 47 61 64 5 50 57 54 61 46 54 54 54 6 59 65 68 70 57 48 51 64 Woodsboro 2 65 56 65 55 71 56 57 54 Elementary 3 65 49 66 52 62 50 60 56 4 50 63 54 61 55 65 45 69 5 62 57 71 64 72 60 63 49 6 51 58 54 65 56 67 54 62 Bernardo Yorba 7 71 69 80 80 76 78 71 68 Middle 8 66 70 77 77 71 75 56 59 Kraemer 6 29 31 35 41 30 31 30 31 Middle 7 36 41 47 49 44 48 39 38 8 40 44 47 50 44 46 36 38 Tuffree 7 63 64 69 74 70 71 64 64 Middle 8 69 68 70 71 69 70 57 60 Yorba Linda 6 63 66 64 66 60 62 56 64 Middle 7 63 67 67 69 70 69 62 62 8 65 65 66 69 64 60 50 48

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Reading Math Language Science School Grade 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 1998 1999 Districtwide 9 48 48 63 66 59 62 54 55 10 50 45 60 58 55 51 56 55 11 54 52 65 66 58 59 59 60 El Camino 9 27 27 30 29 32 41 29 25 10 23 23 27 22 20 19 31 26 11 33 23 27 26 32 42 30 30 El Dorado High 9 55 58 70 72 63 68 62 60 10 58 54 65 64 60 58 66 62 11 63 60 71 69 63 63 68 66 Esperanza High 9 57 58 72 72 66 68 60 60 10 57 57 68 69 62 60 63 63 11 59 60 73 74 65 66 65 67 Estuary *** 9 na 21 na 32 na 37 na 30 Community Day 10 na 16 na 22 na 13 na 28 La Entrada Oppty 9 43 64 44 56 48 61 38 59 10 46 40 45 34 45 35 53 45 11 59 43 48 32 52 44 56 35 Valencia High 9 29 29 42 51 46 46 39 43 10 31 24 42 43 40 36 37 41 11 39 33 51 51 46 43 44 46

Social science School 1998 1999 Districtwide 51 54 55 53 69 72 El Camino 27 28 23 25 34 41 El Dorado High 57 61 63 59 78 78 Esperanza High 56 59 62 63 71 75 Estuary *** na 32 Community Day na 16 La Entrada Oppty 44 69 36 43 58 43 Valencia High 38 40 38 36 59 61

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* Opened this year

** Some grades had fewer than 10 students

*** 1998-99 was first year of operation

Source: Irvine, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School Districts