L.A. Unified Hails Reforms as Test Scores Rise for Fourth Year

Los Angeles elementary schools have raised their standardized test scores for the fourth straight year--the strongest evidence yet that the district’s reading and math reforms are working, district officials and independent experts said Tuesday.

The gains by the Los Angeles Unified School District on the Stanford 9 basic skills exam follow the introduction of uniform teaching methods and materials, as well as a commitment to state standards that specify what students should know grade by grade.

Education experts said the improvements are remarkable given the challenges faced by the nation’s second-largest school district, where half the new teachers lack full credentials, dozens of overcrowded schools operate on abbreviated calendars and many students are poor and did not learn to speak English at home.

“It shows that high-stakes testing and the idea of constantly pushing schools to demonstrate success does, in fact, increase achievement,” said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform in Washington, an education advocacy group. “All the excuses [about] poverty really can be overcome in part by holding schools accountable.”

Overall, the district also modestly narrowed the achievement gap that separates whites and Asians from lower-performing African Americans and Latinos, a Times analysis of the test scores showed.

But the scores also show that the district’s students, on balance, still lag far behind the rest of the nation, particularly in the upper grades. Less than one-third of fifth-graders rank at or above the national average--the 50th percentile--in reading. The overall scores of students in middle schools have climbed far less than those at elementary campuses. High school performance remains virtually flat.

Schools Supt. Roy Romer said he expects the scores of secondary students to improve as higher-performing elementary students move into the upper grades, where the district is aiming its next set of reforms.

“This is spectacular evidence of growth,” Romer said as he released the elementary scores Tuesday, accompanied by Gov. Gray Davis at Rosemont Elementary in Echo Park. “This district deserves to be known for what it’s done.”

School board President Caprice Young said other districts might take heart from the district’s steady gains.

“The kinds of innovations we have done here are replicable in other school districts,” she said.

The district released its test scores a week ahead of the statewide results. All of California’s scores had to be delayed because the district missed a July 1 deadline for submitting its test score sheets; the district is so large that leaving its scores out of statewide totals would have skewed the results.

The snafu did not, however, hold up the release of scores in Los Angeles, where about 550,000 students in grades 2 to 11 took the test. Students’ individual scores are being sent to parents.

The school district did not release results that will show whether students have mastered the state’s academic standards in English and language arts. Those results will be out next week.

The scores released Tuesday showed that:

* The percentage of students scoring at or above the national average--the 50th percentile--increased in every elementary grade level tested last spring compared to 2001 in reading, spelling, language mechanics and math. It was the fourth consecutive year of gains in grades 2 through 5.

* Elementary students posted the highest scores and showed the most growth in math. For the first time, a majority of second-and third-graders performed at or above the national average in math.

* Fourth-graders posted greater gains than third-graders in reading and math, suggesting that students are grasping the material even as it becomes more complex.

* Less than a third of middle school students attained the national average in reading this year. Only about a fifth of ninth-and 10th-graders met the average, marking no improvement in five years.

* Overall, Latinos and African Americans scored lower than whites and Asians but showed the greatest gains among ethnic groups last year. That improvement was most marked in math, and in the elementary grades.

Still, the achievement gap remained wide: African Americans and Latinos scored in the 34th percentile overall, compared with the 67th percentile for whites and the 70th for Asians.

Educators outside Los Angeles were surprised at the district’s progress in the elementary grades. Research in other districts has shown that test results typically plateau after the third year of an exam such as the Stanford 9.

“This jump in scores in L.A. suggests that something [good] is going on beyond test preparation,” said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at UC Berkeley. “The gains in the ... elementary grades are quite remarkable. I think L.A. has proved the skeptics wrong.”

Teachers and administrators in elementary schools across the sprawling district chalked up their success to a combination of factors. Among those cited: the Open Court reading program, increased teacher training, implementation of California’s academic standards and--for added incentive--a statewide accountability system that ranks schools by their test scores.

Open Court is a heavily scripted, step-by-step program introduced three years ago in about 30 elementary schools for students in kindergarten through second grade. A year later, most of the districts’ 426 elementary schools adopted it in those primary grades. It was expanded to grades 3 through 5 last year.

The reading program gives teachers a daily curricular road map, starting with sound-letter exercises for 5-and 6-year olds. As children grow more advanced, they encounter lessons on grammar, spelling and writing, and begin to read literature.

Teachers at Lorena Street Elementary in Boyle Heights initially resisted the program’s strict regimen but have since embraced it, said Peggy Pena, the school’s literacy coordinator.

The school’s fourth-grade reading scores have improved dramatically: Five years ago, the average fourth-grader ranked at the 10th percentile nationally in reading. Last year, the average fourth-grader was at the 24th percentile. Though still low, it’s a big improvement, teachers say.

“People went in kicking and screaming,” Pena said of teachers. “Once they saw the progress with the kids, they dropped that attitude.”

Pena said the program gave the school’s new teachers necessary guidance from the beginning. “Open Court really teaches people how to teach,” she said.

The school district also has enhanced teacher preparation. Teachers using the Open Court program undergo several days of training. In addition, the district has hired 965 veteran teachers to serve as coaches to assist fellow instructors in reading and math programs.

Teachers at Rosemont Elementary, the Echo Park school that Romer and Davis visited Tuesday, said the reforms have clarified what is expected of them. The changes also have led to more collaboration at the year-round school, where students and staff operate on three separate schedules, or tracks.

Second-grade teacher Arleen Irvin, who as been at Rosemont 16 years, said the reforms have created a new sense of purpose on campus.

“You can go into any second-grade class and know where the class is [academically],” Irvin said. “Consistency is high.”

Principal Rosemarie Kubena of Reseda Elementary said the state’s new accountability system has also prompted her and her staff to work harder. Schools and their faculties can earn cash rewards for rising test scores. Those that falter can have their teachers and administrators moved and possibly see their doors closed.

“I do believe that having the [accountability system] and monetary rewards for the school is definitely helping motivate teachers more,” said Kubena, whose school was awarded $12,000 last year for its testing gains. “When scores come out high it makes you feel wonderful. Let’s face it, [teachers] want to have some sort of acknowledgment.”

With elementary schools’ scores rising, district officials said they are turning their attention to secondary campuses.

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Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.