Ups and downs line test results

Marisa O’Neil

District high school students performed better than the state and

county average on this year’s exit exam, but there were some

startling results on other standardized test reports released Monday.

Districtwide, 85% of students passed the 2004 California High

School Exit Examination’s math and English language arts sections.

And though scores in some sections of the Standardized Testing and

Reporting program showed significant improvement, they also made some

large drops -- particularly for the district’s second-grade students

and Corona del Mar High School algebra students.

“The district got better overall,” Newport-Mesa Unified School

District Supt. Robert Barbot said. “But we need to take a look at our

strengths and weakness.”

Corona del Mar High School had 98% of its students pass the exit

exam -- the most of any district school. In the other standardized

testing results, however, they showed large drops in some categories.

The state scores the standardized tests on a five-level system.

Advanced is the highest level, followed by proficient, basic, below

basic and far below basic. Students must achieve proficient or

advanced levels to meet the state’s goals.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act will require all students to

score proficient or above by 2014.

In Algebra I at Corona del Mar High School, 39% of freshmen scored

at proficient levels or higher in 2003, but only 11% did in 2004.

In 2003, 68% of sophomores tested as proficient in that class.

This year, none did.

“That to me is a real anomaly,” said Jaime Castellanos, assistant

superintendent of secondary education for the district. “We’ll have

to take a look at those significant [demographic] subgroups. It’s

hard to believe that from Corona del Mar [High School].”

The district plans in the next two to three years to make

eighth-grade students take Algebra I, Castellanos said. Students

currently taking it in 10th grade might be those who struggle with

math anyway, he said.

“We’ll have to take a look at the standards,” he said. “We may

have to go back to the drawing board and see if there are any holes

and see where we’re missing the mark.”

The Standardized Testing and Reporting results factor into the

state’s Academic Performance Index, which comes out later this month.

Because of the large drops at Corona del Mar High School, the school

may post lower API scores this year, he said.

Other high schools also showed mixed results -- but no drops as

significant as Corona del Mar’s.

The Standardized Testing and Reporting program encompasses data

from a variety of standardized tests, including the California

Achievement Tests and Sixth Edition Survey, or CAT/6, tests. This

year, only 38% of Newport-Mesa second-graders scored as proficient in

English, down from 42% in 2002-03. In math, 54% passed, down from 60%

last year.

“We need more information about why second grade hasn’t done as

well,” Barbot said. “We need to find out what needs to be corrected

and correct it.”

The makeup of last year’s second-grade class could have something

to do with the drop off in performance, district spokeswoman Jane

Garland said. More English language learners in the district took the

test this year than last year, she said -- 4% more in second grade

and 7% more in fourth grade.

Second-graders who have lived in the district for a year, but not

yet learned the language completely, could have factored into the

lower scores, she said.

Fifth-grade students in the district showed the biggest overall

improvement, with 5% more meeting the goal in English. Third-grade

students showed improvement in math, but 4% fewer met performance

goals in English.

In English language arts, 49% of ninth-grade students, 46% of

sophomores and 39% of juniors met their goals.

Starting in 2006, all students must pass the California High

School Exit Exam to graduate from high school. They first take it in

their sophomore year and have four more opportunities to take it if

they don’t pass.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.