SAT Class a Hit at Probation Camp

Ordinarily, discipline is strict at Camp Vernon Kilpatrick, the county’s juvenile probation camp in the Malibu hills. But when a group of young offenders jumped up in class Wednesday to trade bear hugs and jab fists in the air, the teachers just stood by, waiting for them to settle down.

The boys are among a small group enrolled in an experimental SAT preparation course while doing time. They had just received the results of their third practice test, and most of their scores had improved--prompting the euphoria that briefly transformed the classroom into a football field end zone.

Their class is offered by Princeton Review, one of a number of private companies that say they can improve SAT scores through specialized coaching. The SAT is used by colleges and universities nationwide to help decide which students to admit. Princeton Review’s pricey, private courses are generally the province of well-off, college-bound high school seniors, eager to eke out every advantage they can.

But for the last two months, 15 boys at the Malibu camp have been part of a county experiment in providing Princeton Review courses to juvenile offenders, most of whom had never considered taking the SAT.

A few, such as 17-year-old Victor, whose score on practice tests has risen to 730 from 620, had never heard of the SAT before taking the class. “Someone in the dorm said it’s like the GED [high school equivalency exam] but it’s for college,” he said.

The boys’ average score--for the math and verbal portions combined--on practice tests has risen 122 points, from 645 to 767, since they began the course two months ago. One youngster has improved his score by 320 points. The group takes the real SAT on Friday.

The current national average for the combined SAT score is 1,016. To be admitted to a California State University campus, a student with a 2.5 high school grade point average needs to achieve at least 900 on the SAT. So far, only two of the Kilpatrick group have scored near the national average, both earning a 1,010 on the last practice test.

The abilities of youths in Los Angeles County probation camps are usually at least two grade levels below those of their peers. For this class, eighth-grade reading skills were required, and only these few students in the camp qualified.

The youths, for the most part, seem delighted with the class. Jason, 16, a seemingly cocky young track star locked up for attempted burglary, got 1,010 on the last practice test.

Before he began the Princeton Review course, he said, he never thought of taking the SAT and secretly felt that, if he did, he would probably get a 400. “I was always in class, not doin’ anything, watching other kids get good grades,” he said.

Now, surprised by his success, “I feel I could do anything,” he said. He wants to go to Howard University in Washington to study anthropology.

Jason’s score represents an increase of 200 points from his first attempt at the test. The Princeton Review course has helped him “look at problems different,” he said.

He gave an example: If you don’t know the meaning of a word, look at the roots: “Like ‘omni.’ That means ‘all.’ ”

The idea of extending pretest coaching to less-advantaged high schoolers got a boost last year from state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles). Hayden focused on the ways privileged children prepare for the test because his son had reached SAT age, and test preparation became a household topic, said an aide.

Seeking to level the playing field, Hayden sponsored a bill resulting in about $10 million for test preparation courses. The amount has been expanded this year to about $15 million.

The money allows school districts to use the SAT preparation program of their choice. The county Probation Department, which runs 19 juvenile probation camps, served by their own school system, didn’t jump on board at first.

But then county probation Director Richard Shumsky’s daughter took the Princeton Review course, improved her score on the SAT and went to Columbia University.

Ron Corcillo, the same Princeton Review teacher who taught Shumsky’s daughter, soon found himself standing in front of the class of juvenile offenders, said an official involved with the program.

There is much debate about whether programs such as Princeton Review’s, which costs $845 per course, really help students improve SAT scores.

Officials with the Educational Testing Service, the New Jersey organization that administers the SAT, say Princeton Review’s claims that it can increase scores by 140 points are grossly inflated. The testing service’s studies show that a 20- to 40-point gain is more likely, and the information offered by Princeton Review is available elsewhere at a much lower price, they say.

The large gains that the Kilpatrick boys have made don’t shed any light on this debate, contends Wayne Camara, executive director of research for the College Board, which contracts with the Educational Testing Service to administer the test.

That’s because low-performing test takers improve their scores substantially, often by 75 points or more, simply by taking the test more than once, without coaching, he said.

Corcillo, the Princeton teacher at Kilpatrick, said working with juvenile offenders is “definitely different” from instructing more conventional clients.

“Kids in [the offenders’] situation aren’t aware of basic things about the test, like the guessing penalty and stuff like that,” he said. “The potential to get a quick improvement with some guidance with this type of group is very high.”

However, he added, lack of knowledge is a barrier. “You do hit a bit of a plateau at some point, where a subject they didn’t ever learn in school comes up,” Corcillo said.

He tries to fill in gaps where he can. He has taught the youths math formulas and how to solve equations for a variable. He has covered X and Y graphs, the meaning of the term “remainder,” and the angle of a straight line--180 degrees.

Hearing a description of the class, Camara of the College Board seized on this part of Corcillo’s method. “That,” he said, “is not coaching. That is education. And education works.”

Whether or not the Princeton Review can be credited for the boys’ accomplishments, what’s clear is that the class has changed their thinking.

At a recent session, the boys were given calculators, which they begged to be able to take back to their dorms. They sat, mostly silent and attentive, throughout the three-hour class. A few stretched, slumped and sprawled--their arms and legs seemingly too energetic to be contained by fiberglass desks--but they listened and asked questions.

Kilpatrick is a sports camp, and by their own account, the youths have applied their enthusiasm for sports to the SAT. They are competitive, eager to see how well they can do and wise to what they call the test’s tricks.

“I’m gonna beat the test,” said Mark, 18, convicted of assault, whose score has gone from 520 to 710. “I want to get the best score in the class.”