2 School Districts See Test Scores Rise

Although the new results for the Stanford 9 test varied widely from school to school and even from grade to grade in the Anaheim City School District, overall results showed small but steady increases over last year in each subject tested.

Reading remains the biggest challenge for the district, where 57% of the students have limited English skills.

Take Jefferson Elementary School. Second-grade math scores plummeted by 21 percentile points, from the 78th to the 57th percentile, but third-grade math scores skyrocketed by the same margin, rising from the 24th to 45th percentile. Fourth-grade math scores also showed double-digit improvement, but fifth grade scores fell, only to rise in sixth grade.

The school’s scores, however, are some of the best in the district and gain more meaning when compared with those of schools statewide that serve similar populations. Last year Jefferson Elementary received the highest possible ranking of 10 when compared with similar schools statewide.

“Last year we evaluated the results and we provided after-school programs and Saturday school and tutoring,” said Principal Linda Sheehan. “We think we’re doing everything we can do.

“You’d like to have great gains, of course, but the program we have is good and strong. I told the teachers today that I was very, very proud of them,” she said.

At Palm Lane Elementary School, where 80% of the students are English learners, a clear trend was easier to see. Test scores improved in nearly each subject at nearly every grade level, jumping by double digits in several categories.

Scores are measured against those of a national pool of test-takers. The 50th percentile is the national median.

“Staff at every level have poured their energies into the improvement of instruction and learning,” said district Superintendent Roberta Thompson. “We are pleased that early results of [Stanford 9] testing show that we are making steady, sustainable gains districtwide in all areas.”

While generally pleased, school officials cautioned against reading too much into any school’s test results.

The intense crowding at the schools, which leads to a constant shifting of some students from one school to another, makes comparing year-to-year scores a theoretical exercise.

“We have to caution our community against making assumptions about individual schools,” said Pam Ellis, director of program evaluation for the district. “To take them at face value is going to make it very difficult to draw conclusions.”

District records of last year’s second- and fifth-graders show that at some schools only 36% of students returned the following year. The highest percentage of overlapping students was 70%. Ellis said and the district average is 55%.

Elementary School Scores

The following list shows Stanford 9 percentile 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 score.

ANAHEIM CITY

Scores in the Anaheim City School District showed solid increases on the statewide Stanford *--*

Reading Math Language Spelling School Grade 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000 Districtwide 2 29 31 38 44 31 34 32 34 3 23 25 33 40 29 33 31 35 4 28 28 33 39 37 39 28 31 5 27 27 34 39 39 40 31 32 6 34 36 44 50 43 47 35 39 Barton 2 44 41 54 58 45 41 49 47 3 39 38 51 58 45 47 42 49 4 46 35 48 44 50 44 42 39 5 38 35 39 48 47 46 44 36 6 46 45 62 55 57 51 53 51 Edison 2 19 20 25 26 17 24 19 23 3 13 14 19 23 17 22 21 25 4 21 16 22 23 35 31 20 23 5 18 22 28 31 41 45 23 29 6 18 26 25 35 31 47 19 32 Franklin 2 21 28 27 42 19 30 23 30 3 14 15 20 24 18 20 21 23 4 24 19 29 24 30 30 22 21 5 17 20 23 27 25 30 20 23 6 31 21 32 29 31 30 34 21 Gauer 2 32 31 35 31 37 32 37 40 3 35 37 39 49 39 45 40 45 4 30 27 35 29 35 31 29 25 5 24 30 37 44 39 43 35 38 6 36 30 50 42 41 44 36 39 Guinn 2 35 33 45 38 29 31 33 34 3 24 25 27 40 26 32 27 38 4 32 33 39 37 37 41 32 30 5 35 27 43 40 48 44 42 42 6 30 37 46 47 42 52 32 50 Henry 2 18 21 23 32 14 16 22 26 3 25 19 40 44 31 26 34 29 4 18 24 27 45 30 37 21 26 5 22 20 35 34 31 33 24 25 6 22 30 35 42 40 43 28 35 Jefferson 2 57 43 78 57 66 50 55 43 3 20 28 24 45 29 47 28 45 4 28 37 46 62 48 53 34 48 5 42 26 52 44 59 45 42 36 6 39 42 53 62 54 55 40 44 Jefferson II 2 24 29 30 43 23 30 26 35 3 18 17 31 27 23 22 28 27 4 16 19 22 35 26 32 18 22 5 16 20 25 30 23 29 23 27 6 19 30 27 44 25 32 21 42 Juarez 2 31 36 38 42 39 38 40 39 3 48 28 53 37 52 31 50 35 4 45 34 47 41 48 43 46 40 5 33 41 42 53 36 52 39 43 6 57 52 69 66 64 60 51 48 Key 2 22 24 45 40 31 29 26 27 3 16 17 29 32 19 26 23 30 4 18 16 32 27 32 31 17 21 5 17 18 29 26 30 29 22 25 6 27 27 40 31 41 30 28 26 Lincoln 2 18 24 23 40 18 26 24 28 3 14 18 24 30 18 23 19 25 4 17 16 21 24 26 24 16 16 5 16 22 23 32 27 27 18 26 6 22 31 35 58 33 41 28 33 Loara 2 32 35 38 47 37 37 35 36 3 33 35 43 50 36 39 41 40 4 41 40 46 57 48 54 42 44 5 32 41 39 52 40 48 33 47 6 45 44 54 61 45 50 48 47 Madison 2 28 29 41 41 34 36 26 33 3 22 25 31 48 32 31 33 38 4 25 33 29 43 33 44 27 37 5 41 25 37 37 46 42 48 36 6 46 47 52 50 51 54 55 54 Mann 2 15 22 21 36 20 24 22 23 3 18 17 27 23 23 22 23 24 4 21 22 22 29 31 29 18 18 5 18 21 19 29 28 28 22 23 6 28 30 37 45 39 40 31 37 Marshall 2 41 43 40 52 36 44 43 39 3 29 24 33 28 33 30 40 34 4 40 32 43 40 51 43 41 37 5 35 32 38 39 49 43 42 37 6 45 44 56 62 55 60 41 44 Palm Lane 2 18 27 24 47 18 35 20 27 3 10 19 19 45 16 29 17 28 4 18 18 24 29 26 28 15 17 5 10 21 17 37 20 36 14 24 6 21 20 23 32 24 32 21 20 Price 2 31 39 36 46 35 41 34 35 3 28 37 34 58 37 51 35 47 4 32 26 35 41 36 43 29 34 5 32 26 42 40 47 39 33 35 6 36 37 52 52 51 52 37 41 Revere 2 24 23 38 41 25 24 29 30 3 20 17 27 28 21 20 30 24 4 12 17 14 25 20 24 13 20 5 12 14 17 25 18 21 17 19 6 19 21 24 30 21 23 21 21 Roosevelt 2 33 35 44 46 40 40 36 39 3 37 34 43 44 38 38 39 41 4 41 33 45 39 50 42 38 34 5 35 36 35 48 44 52 37 34 6 36 33 48 53 48 53 33 37 Rossa 2 22 37 27 46 28 44 25 42 3 20 22 31 35 31 29 27 28 4 22 26 24 34 33 34 19 28 5 22 22 29 32 32 34 23 21 6 32 33 39 51 36 47 30 32 Stoddard 2 43 46 51 61 57 63 48 52 3 39 41 50 52 47 48 45 47 4 44 37 49 54 52 48 47 42 5 47 40 51 55 60 53 51 45 6 48 49 59 61 53 52 50 53 Sunkist 2 39 44 67 74 48 57 38 41 3 35 34 54 51 47 41 44 43 4 44 39 51 47 52 48 38 38 5 40 35 55 51 51 47 38 40 6 46 49 59 64 53 55 45 50 Westmont 2 -- 27 -- 35 -- 24 -- 32 3 -- 40 -- 57 -- 51 -- 48 4 -- 47 -- 53 -- 53 -- 52 5 -- 34 -- 50 -- 49 -- 43 6 -- 41 -- 65 -- 56 -- 45

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Source: Anaheim City School District