INLAND EMPIREElementary Schools Post Lower ScoresState results in math and English either declined or showed no increase at most campuses. Inland Empire students scored below state average. (Editor's note: Story has more Inland Empire information.)By Duke Helfand and Doug SmithTimes Staff Writers August 17, 2004 After several years of marked gains, the majority of public elementary schools in California posted lower scores or showed no improvement this year on standardized English and math tests, according to data released Monday. State officials tried to make the best of the disappointing results, pointing out that scores remained significantly higher than they did at the beginning of the current testing program four years ago. But fewer than half of the state's elementary schools showed any increases this year, compared with the nearly 90% that improved last year, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis that combined English and math scores. Middle schools showed little change this year on the tests that are tied to the state's academic content standards. High schools continued to struggle; only one-quarter did better this year, significantly worse than the previous year. The slowdown put a dent in the state's efforts to meet new demands under the federal No Child Left Behind education law. It requires all students to be proficient in English and math within a decade. Even after the increases of the last several years, far less than half of California students are proficient in English-language arts or math. For example, just 30% of third-graders were proficient in English, down three points from last year. And only 35% of sixth-graders were proficient in math, up one point from last year. "This is not where we want to be. This is not where we hoped we would be," said Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction. "These scores should be viewed as a wake-up call for us all." Educators cited several factors to explain the lackluster performance, including budget cuts that have eroded teacher training programs and increases in the numbers of students who are still learning English. Experts also said the results followed a familiar pattern found in other testing programs across the country: Scores begin to trail off about three years after new exams are introduced as schools' initial focus and enthusiasm begin to fade. "The first year or two it was brand new. People were really trying to make it work," said Eva Baker, co-director of UCLA's Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing. "Now the motivation is at a different place. No matter how hard we work, we're getting incremental" change. Nearly 4.8 million students in grades 2 through 11 took the standards tests last spring in English, math, history and science. Individual student scores are being sent home; district and school scores are available on the Times website, http://www.latimes.com/schoolscores . The state's goal was for students to reach at least the "proficient" level in each subject. Forty-five percent of the state's elementary schools had a decline in the percentage of proficient students this year, 10% had no change, and the remainder showed an increase, according to The Times' analysis. On average, the state's elementary schools showed only slight gains this year in the percentage of students at the proficient or advanced levels on the English and math tests combined. Montebello Park Elementary, a year-round school where more than two-thirds of the 422 students are still learning English, struggled to keep its scores up. Overall, the percentage of students proficient in English and math at the East Los Angeles campus dropped by one point from last year, to 22%. Principal Maria Nuñez said it's tough to consistently raise the scores of English learners at a school where the stop-and-start, year-round calendar gives teachers little chance to communicate. "It's always disappointing when there's a slight dip, but you look and say, 'Now I know what work needs to go on,' " Nuñez said. Riverside and San Bernardino counties' public school students scored slightly worst than the state as a whole. Math scores dropped one percentage point, and reading scores went up 1% in Riverside County, where 31% of students were deemed proficient or advanced in math and language arts. San Bernardino County scored 3% lower than last year in math and remained the same in reading. Only 29% of San Bernardino County students are considered proficient or advanced in math and reading. The Murrieta Valley Unified School District, which still has some of the highest proficiency levels in Riverside County, experienced one of the largest dips in math scores countywide. Only one other district, the low-performing Romoland Elementary School District, had that much of a percentage loss. Officials at the Murrieta district said the drop might have been a result of a new state law that requires all students to take algebra. As a result, more students are taking the algebra exam. Last year, 300 students took the general math skills test; this year only 11 students took that exam, said Guy Romero, director of assessment for the district. In San Bernardino County, where the Chaffey Joint Union High School District lost 11 percentage points in math and one percentage point in reading, officials said it was too soon to explain what might have caused the drop. "We're obviously disappointed in the results," said Kathy Beard, director of assessment and research. "I was surprised that in English we did not see that slow steady increase in proficiency levels that we're so good at. Even though it's been hard to make those gains, last year we made tremendous gains and we were so jazzed. For us to see any drop at all just blows us away." Statewide, the test scores revealed a great deal of variation in how different grade levels performed. Although second, third and fourth grades showed little or no gains in English-language arts, for example, fifth-graders turned in a nice performance. Forty percent of fifth-graders statewide were proficient this year in English, an increase of four percentage points over last year and a jump of 12 points over the last four years. The state results also underscored a long-standing concern over high schools, where test performance has remained flat since the state began giving exams. This year was no exception. The percentage of students who were proficient in algebra and geometry declined this year. State officials said more students took the tests, including eighth-graders. The data released Monday by the California Department of Education offered further glimpses into educational achievement: • There was virtually no change in the percentage of the "far-below-basic" category of students in English-language arts except in middle schools. In math, schools were somewhat successful in raising students out of the lowest category, with most of that occurring in elementary schools. Statewide, 13% of students were in the far-below-basic category in English-language arts, and 9% in math. • Students this spring also took the California Achievement Tests/Sixth Edition, also known as the CAT/6. State officials say the test, which compares California students against a national sample in reading, language, math, spelling and science, is a less reliable gauge of student achievement. Elementary schools showed slight gains while middle schools had little or no increases in the percentages of students reaching the national median — the 50th percentile — in reading. High schools declined overall. In math, there was modest improvement at all grade levels. Times staff writers Erika Hayasaki, Cynthia Daniels, Jeff Gottlieb, Sandra Murillo and data analyst Sandra Poindexter contributed to this story. * (Begin Text of Infobox) Test scores * Statewide results of the English-language arts exam, showing the percent of students in three grades who scored: Proficient or advanced 4th: 40% 8th: 33% 10th: 35% Below or far below basic 4th: 27% 8th: 31% 10th: 35% * Source: California Department of Education
|