O.C. Bucks Trend With SAT Scores: A Net Gain : Schools: The results surpass state and national averages, which have slipped. And Irvine stays at the head of the class.

More than half of Orange County’s districts raised their scores on the Scholastic Assessment Test last school year, with a majority of districts also beating state and national averages on the crucial college-entrance exam.

According to 1998-99 scores released Tuesday, students in the high-striving Irvine Unified School District continued to rack up Orange County’s highest marks on the SAT, a two-test exam quizzing high-schoolers on their math and verbal skills.

Schools in Brea, Fullerton, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia-Yorba Linda and Saddleback Valley all posted double-digit gains on the national standardized test, which has a possible total score of 1,600. Along with school transcripts and personal essays, SAT scores serve as a vital part of high school seniors’ application packets to colleges and universities.

The Orange County gains come as average state and national scores lost some ground. Nationally, math scores on the SAT sank one point from 1998’s 27-year high of 512. The verbal score remained at 505 for the fourth consecutive year.

In California, the average math score dropped two points to 514; that performance ended a four-year streak of improvement. On the verbal portion, California students’ average score stayed at 497 for the second year.

The scores also showed that the gap in performance between whites and ethnic minorities widened, but much of the disparity resulted from sharp increases in the number of Latinos and African Americans taking the tests, the College Board reported.

Nationally, African American test-takers scored 422 on math, down four points from 1998, and 434 on verbal, even with last year. Mexican Americans had a math score of 456, also off four points, and 453 on verbal, the same as 1998.

The standard for the SAT scores was set in 1941, based on the results of 10,000 college-bound students, almost all of whom came from privileged backgrounds. Of more than 1.22 million students in the class of 1999 who took the test nationally, one-third were minority students, up from 25% a decade ago. The number of Mexican Americans and other Latinos taking the test has soared by more than 70% since 1989, the College Board said.

“The primary reason for [the gap in scores] is the phenomenal growth in the number of students from those groups taking the tests,” said Gretchen Rigol, an official with the College Board, the nonprofit New York-based group that sponsors the college entrance exam. “That is actually the good news behind that bad news.”

Orange County educators said they did not have scores broken down by race or ethnicity. But overall scores improved, although results peaked and dipped from school to school, district to district.

Anaheim Union High School District’s average score of 1,010 still trailed the state’s average total by a point. Yet Supt. Jan Billings said she was thrilled with the large strides made by Cypress, Katella and Kennedy highs, particularly given that her district serves primarily poor students struggling to take a test in a second language.

“All the research says that given the difficulties kids face with poverty and single-parent families, you can almost predict [those students’] scores,” Billings said. “Our job is to break the cycle of predictability. That’s why it’s so heartening to see these scores.”

As in previous years, Irvine’s University High occupied Orange County’s top SAT spot, with an average score of 1,220--down a statistical hiccup of three points from last year.

The Irvine scores are “very, very good,” said Pat McCabe, an administrator with the state Education Department’s office of policy and evaluation. That average appears all the more impressive given the high number of students who take the test in Irvine. Generally, bigger pools of test-takers tend to drive scores down.

“In a community where you have 60% to 70% [of graduating seniors] taking the test, that average is exceptional,” McCabe said. “The average for an entering freshman at CSU is about 1,000--this is substantially higher.”

But Greg Cops, principal of Irvine’s Woodbridge High, said he was more heartened by gains made at schools struggling with educational challenges not commonly faced at his high-scoring campus, where the average total score was 1,126.

“A lot has to do with clientele served,” he said. “Many of the kids going to school in Irvine come nourished from a good home environment and with the work ethic to reach their potential. . . . The things schools really need to look at is the value added--where your students come in and where they leave.”

Average scores in Orange, Los Alamitos and Placentia-Yorba Linda unified school districts and Fullerton Joint Union High School District grew the most year over year--led by a 20-point jump in Orange.

The Orange Unified score is the district’s five-year high-water mark, according to Supt. Barbara Van Otterloo. Most of the gains came from a 15-point jump in districtwide verbal scores, which rose to 528; math scores edged up five points to 553.

Several school administrators said they were making overtures to widen the batch of test-takers, some by offering reduced test fees, others by providing preparation courses, hoping to rope in kids who might not think of themselves as college students.

With a 55-point gain over last year, Katella High in Anaheim is among those trying to increase the number of pupils taking the SAT, said Principal Mike Shelton. His school is training teachers to help students improve SAT performance.

“All life is a test,” he said. “You have to take employment tests, college-entrance tests, tests to enter the military. . . . That’s why all kids need to be able to do these kinds of tests.”

Continuing an SAT skid, Garden Grove Unified reported lower SAT scores for the second year running. With four of seven high schools achieving lower scores than last year, the district average fell six points on the combined score this year.

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Times staff writer Richard Cooper contributed to this report from Washington.

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SAT Results Mixed

With the most recent figures in from the Scholastic Assessment Test, Orange County schools posted mixed results. While most districts continued to outpace the state average, only about half improved over last year. The highest average scores belonged to Irvine once again, with Fullerton, Orange, Placentia-Yorba Linda and Saddleback districts making the most significant strides. The SAT, a nationally standardized test used in college admittance, is a two-part test. The highest score is 1,600 total.

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x x x 1999 1998 Total Seniors District Verbal Math total total change tested ANAHEIM UNION 483 527 1,010 1,013 -3 31% Anaheim 429 470 899 913 -14 NA Cypress 508 558 1,066 1,053 +13 NA Katella 474 528 1,002 947 +55 NA Kennedy 505 566 1,071 1,060 +11 NA Loara 491 531 1,022 1,044 -22 NA Magnolia 453 475 928 985 -57 NA Savanna 475 504 979 978 +1 NA Western 482 509 991 998 -7 NA BREA OLINDA* 538 571 1,109 1,099 +10 59 CAPISTRANO UNIFIED 539 560 1,099 1,095 +4 49 Aliso Niguel 537 570 1,107 1,096 +11 54 Capistrano Valley 542 565 1,107 1,124 -17 47 Dana Hills 539 553 1,092 1,096 -4 49 San Clemente 537 553 1,090 1,057 +33 51 FULLERTON JOINT UNION 532 569 1,101 1,083 +18 NA Buena Park 440 452 892 NA NA 31 Fullerton 506 518 1,024 999 +25 35 La Habra 486 493 979 939 +40 41 Sonora 519 519 1,038 1,062 -24 39 Sunny Hills 554 627 1,181 1,161 +20 81 Troy 568 607 1,175 1,148 +27 71 GARDEN GROVE UNIFIED 472 525 997 1,003 -6 NA Bolsa Grande 445 510 955 968 -13 NA Garden Grove 492 530 1,022 1,038 -16 NA La Quinta 480 547 1,027 1,010 +17 NA Los Amigos 457 513 970 994 -24 NA Pacifica 514 546 1,060 1,034 +26 NA Rancho Alamitos 440 509 949 963 -14 NA Santiago 431 498 929 929 -- NA HUNTINGTON BEACH UNION 517 554 1,071 1,067 +4 51 Edison 524 547 1,071 1,070 +1 59 Fountain Valley 529 574 1,103 1,094 +9 52 Huntington Beach 535 557 1,092 1,083 +9 46 Marina 520 555 1,075 NA NA 55 Ocean View 527 557 1,084 1,017 +67 50 Westminster 453 523 976 991 -15 40 IRVINE UNIFIED 553 606 1,159 1,159 -- 69 Irvine 538 590 1,128 1,112 +16 NA University 580 640 1,220 1,223 -3 NA Woodbridge 540 586 1,126 1,138 -12 NA LOS ALAMITOS* 535 549 1,084 1,065 +19 64 NEWPORT-MESA UNIFIED 523 548 1,071 1,075 -4 45 Corona del Mar 540 567 1,107 1,133 -26 NA Costa Mesa 502 542 1,044 1,000 +44 NA Estancia 486 513 999 1,025 -26 NA Newport Harbor 525 540 1,065 1,057 +8 NA ORANGE UNIFIED 528 553 1,081 1,061 +20 42 Canyon 535 563 1,098 1,061 +37 54 El Modena 542 550 1,092 1,070 +22 38 Orange 483 503 986 961 +25 21 Villa Park 531 564 1,095 1,113 -18 56 PLACENTIA-YORBA LINDA 524 567 1,091 1,074 +17 56 El Dorado 534 561 1,095 1,090 +5 57 Esperanza 527 573 1,100 1,073 +27 64 Valencia 500 557 1,057 1,044 +13 41 SADDLEBACK VALLEY 543 569 1,112 1,100 +12 60 El Toro 543 564 1,107 1,085 +22 NA Laguna Hills 554 595 1,149 1,125 +24 NA Mission Viejo 540 563 1,103 1,090 +13 NA Trabuco Hills 533 557 1,090 1,097 -7 NA SANTA ANA UNIFIED 420 453 873 879 -6 NA Century 423 443 866 847 +19 NA Saddleback 429 464 893 922 -27 NA Santa Ana 392 434 826 819 +7 NA Valley 441 477 918 920 -2 NA TUSTIN UNIFIED 519 545 1,064 1,075 -11 51 Foothill 543 573 1,116 1,106 +10 61 Tustin 481 499 980 997 -17 41 Statewide 497 514 1,011 1,013 -2 NA Nationwide 505 511 1,016 1,017 -1 NA

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Sources: Individual districts, the College Board

* These districts have only one high school.

Note: District scores for Laguna Beach are not available.