Back-to-Basics Efforts Pay Off as Stanford 9 Test Scores Rise

After a year of intense concentration on basic skills, San Fernando Valley public school officials on Monday cheered significant gains among elementary school pupils on this year’s Stanford 9 test.

Like their counterparts in other areas of Los Angeles, Valley students substantially improved their scores on the reading, language and mathematics portions of the test, according to results released Monday by the state Department of Education.

The state has made the examination the centerpiece of its school reform drive by setting aside nearly $1 billion in bonuses for teachers, students and principals at schools that improve by a prescribed amount. More than 4 million California students in grades two through 11 took the exam last spring.

Overall, Los Angeles Unified School District elementary students showed marked improvement in their test scores. Middle school scores also rose, though not as dramatically as elementary school scores. At the high school level, scores rose only slightly.

At the elementary level, special emphasis is placed on fourth-graders who are closely monitored to determine whether they will be retained or promoted to the next grade.

“This calls for a celebration,” said Jesus Limon, assistant principal at Liggett Street Elementary School in Panorama City. “We could do more, but we are pleased.”

Liggett’s fourth-graders scored at the 40th percentile in math this year, up from the 26th percentile last year. Scores in language jumped from the 19th percentile a year ago to the 34th percentile. In reading, the students went from the 13th percentile to the 21st.

Limon said he was amazed by the scores, considering that a third of the fourth-graders at the year-round school had been off track for two months and took the exam only two days into the new school year.

Even so, Limon credited the gains to a school-wide emphasis on tutorial programs, staff development and parental involvement.

“There are a lot of opportunities to fill the gap so that students are not left behind,” he said. “We try to make sure that children, parents, teachers, administrators and the school district are held accountable.”

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At Fair Avenue School in North Hollywood, where fourth-graders also made marked improvements in all three basic areas, Principal Maxine Elise Matlen sent a letter to teachers, thanking them for helping kids boost their test scores.

“Even if our scores hadn’t gone up, I couldn’t have asked my teachers to do any more,” she said. “They really worked hard.”

In one year, math test scores for fourth-graders at Fair Avenue climbed from the 23rd percentile to the 37th. Reading scores rose from the 13th percentile to the 22nd. Language scores went from the 24th to the 37th percentile.

“Even though the Stanford 9 doesn’t show everything,” she said, “I think if other students can score, why can’t we?”

Burton Elementary School Principal Judy G. Kravitz said she was somewhat disappointed by the fourth-grade results on the standardized test, though second- and third-graders made gains in all areas.

Scores among fourth-graders dropped in math from the 14th percentile to the 9th percentile and in reading from the 15th percentile to the 9th, but inched up in language from the 18th percentile to the 19th.

“Fourth-grade is a transition grade,” she said. “There is a tremendous amount of skills taught in fourth grade as compared to other grades.”

Still, Kravitz vowed to continue her efforts to raise student achievement at the Panorama City school. She said she encouraged her staff to keep pressing ahead.

“I told them, ‘Don’t think you didn’t do well. You really did,’ ” she said. “These teachers really do care. Besides, who wants to come to work and not do well?”

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At Parthenia Street School in North Hills, going back to the basics made all the difference, said Principal Marcia Jackman.

Math scores among fourth-graders soared from the 11th percentile last year to the 31st percentile this year and language scores rose from the 14th percentile to the 30th. In reading, scores climbed from the 8th percentile to the 14th.

“I told my staff we will celebrate the improvements,” she said, “but we must keep the momentum going, because we have a long way to go.”