Schools Get Good Marks From State

The state’s first-ever “report cards�--six pages of numbers on each high school--paint a generally bright picture of Orange County schools.

The mass of statistics, released last week to educators by the state Department of Education, is designed to allow school officials, teachers, parents and students to see how their school compares with others. The reports also will make it possible to chart year-to-year progress for each of California’s 799 public high schools.

Generally, Orange County schools scored above state averages in many or all categories on the “report cards.� There are many exceptions, however, and those tend to reflect socioeconomic differences such as English-language difficulties and parents’ income and education level.

The report card, officially called Performance Report for California Schools, contains a variety of test scores, placement and enrollment data and comparative percentages for each school. In addition to the raw data on each school, the reports compare each school with others in which the students come from similar socioeconomic backgrounds.

A Right to Know

Bill Honig, state superintendent of public instruction, said the department is issuing the reports because taxpayers have a right to know how their schools are doing.

“California is increasing the amount of money it’s giving to public schools, and I think the public should know what that money is producing,� Honig said in a recent interview.

“The information we are giving this year is really base line data. Figures next year can be used for comparison purposes, and next year I’m going to start recognition programs at the local level, through PTAs or Chambers of Commerce, to honor schools that are showing improvement.�

The performance reports contain extensive data on each school. In a table accompanying this article, The Times reports selected statistics for each high school in the county: Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) results, the percentage of students who passed so-called Advanced Placement tests with scores enabling them to receive college credit, and the percentage of seniors who last year had demanding class schedules that included humanities, mathematics, science and fine arts courses.

Request Refused

However, three Orange County districts--Anaheim Union, Placentia Unified and Santa Ana Unified--refused Honig’s request for access to their students’ Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. Officials in those districts said that although they support Honig’s school “accountability program,� they do not think average SAT scores are appropriate information for the department report on schools’ performance.

SAT tests, widely used as college entrance exams, are administered commercially by the College Board, based in New York, and therefore are not public records. Some educators have for years argued that the tests only assess students’ potential to succeed in the first year of college and that they should not be used as indicators of anything else.

Nonetheless, Congress, state legislatures and the news media have long regarded the tests as barometers of educational performance. Honig is among those who say that SAT scores can be used, in conjunction with other data, to help show how education is faring.

‘We’re Not Afraid’

Honig said he tried, to no avail, to persuade the three districts to cooperate in releasing those scores. In interviews, officials of the three districts defended their decision not to release the test results. “We’re not afraid to show what our scores are, but we don’t feel that this is an appropriate use of SAT tests,� said Bruce Haugher, assistant superintendent for education services with the Anaheim Union High School District.

“It was our belief,� said Supt. Keith Larick Jr. of the Placentia Unified School District, “that it wasn’t appropriate (for the state) to include this. SAT tests are a measurement of potential, not achievement.�

Vergil Hettick, director of research and evaluation for the Santa Ana Unified School District, echoed those thoughts: “Our district does not feel it’s an appropriate use� of SAT scores.

Honig strongly disagrees. “If a school is doing well, its SAT scores will be going up,� he said. “I would agree with the philosophical objections to the use of SAT scores if it were the only thing being used in this report, but it’s one of many items.�

Bill Burson, an evaluation consultant for the state Department of Education, said that about 95% of the school districts released their SAT scores as requested and that “only a handful of districts refused to cooperate.�

Some Data Challenged

Already, however, some of the figures in the initial reports are being challenged. Placentia district Supt. Larick, for instance, said the reports erroneously reflect the percentages of seniors in his district who will have completed four years of English by graduation.

According to the state figures, 85.1% of Esperanza High seniors reported that they would complete four years of English; at El Dorado High, 97.3%, and at Valencia High, 81.9%.

All three schools should show 100% “because our district requires four years of English for graduation,� Larick said. He said that some seniors apparently misunderstood the state’s questionnaire and did not include the year of English they were enrolled in.

Officials in a number of other districts also complained that the report cards contain inaccurate data about some or all of their schools. Some of them blamed the problem on unclear questions and instructions from the state.

Burson said in a telephone interview from Sacramento that the state tries to make its questions as clear as possible, but that the state ultimately relies on individual schools to make sure students understand the questionnaires.

“There aren’t any perfect statistics on anything,� he said. “If we waited for perfect statistics, we’d be looking at a blank piece of paper.�

Similarly, Honig said that, as in any new venture, complaints will surface and fine-tuning will be needed.

“This is totally new,� he said of the report cards on schools. “We’re the only state to be doing this.�

These reports are, Honig said, part of an effort to maintain “broad public support� for schools and to ensure that they get financial support.

“The public has a role in this,� Honig said. “The public wants to know how their schools are performing, and this is how we show them how our schools are making progress.�

A High School Report Card The state’s review of public high schools in Orange County

TEST RESULTS COURSE SAT SAT Advanced High School Verbal Math Placement Math English Science State Average 421 476 9.5 67 73 33 ANAHEIM UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT Anaheim High -- -- 1.7 66.8 90.7 9.6 Cypress High -- -- 19.4 68.4 78.6 12.7 Katella High -- -- 6.9 77.3 92.3 21.5 Kennedy High -- -- 4.3 57.5 95.4 26.6 Loara High -- -- 15.3 67.3 89.2 20.1 Magnolia High -- -- 6.0 76.5 89.3 10.0 Savanna High -- -- 3.5 56.7 92.9 13.1 Western High -- -- 3.0 54.9 80.3 14.8 BREA--OLINDA UNIFIED DISTRICT Brea Olinda High 426 510 13.8 83.3 96.2 24.1 CAPISTRANO UNIFIED DISTRICT Capistrano Valley High 440 492 10.9 86.9 95.1 51.8 San Clemente High 427 465 16.8 82.7 91.1 46.9 Dana Hills High 437 469 19.2 86.9 98.1 51.6 FULLERTON UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT Buena Park High 357 448 0.3 55.4 67.3 25.8 27.0 Fullerton High 399 482 7.6 72.0 78.9 33.0 La Habra High 433 479 5.4 56.7 71.1 19.5 Sonora High 426 498 7.9 62.0 69.5 44.6 Sunny Hills High 436 515 13.2 67.3 74.7 31.5 Troy High 437 486 7.6 70.0 71.0 28.0 GARDEN GROVE UNIFIED DISTRICT Bolsa Grande High 346 480 0.3 82.1 58.8 34.4 Garden Grove High 429 505 7.0 69.8 65.1 30.4 La Quinta High 431 492 7.1 75.9 76.3 44.2 Los Amigos High 408 474 1.4 78.5 68.3 32.8 20.4 Pacifica High 421 490 7.9 78.3 68.4 35.9 Rancho Alamitos High 392 511 0.3 72.4 63.3 29.1 Santiago High 345 459 0.6 67.8 61.4 25.5 HUNTINGTON BEACH UNION HIGH DISTRICT Edison High 425 513 7.9 54.8 60.7 34.5 Fountain Valley 432 504 21.6 45.1 41.3 21.4 7.7 Huntington Beach H. 425 500 12.5 60.2 70.8 37.0 Marina High 418 514 13.7 62.8 37.4 33.1 Ocean View High 419 500 11.9 62.2 91.0 35.8 Westminster High 390 490 13.0 54.3 67.8 24.2 IRVINE UNIFIED DISTRICT Irvine High 407 485 13.6 78.8 88.7 51.8 University High 454 524 60.5 66.5 90.6 46.1 37.6 Woodbridge High 428 509 16.4 67.0 70.1 26.8 33.6 LAGUNA BEACH UNIFIED DISTRICT Laguna Beach High 436 470 10.0 82.2 87.5 40.0 LOS ALAMITOS UNIFIED DISTRICT Los Alamitos High 427 492 35.4 76.3 84.7 23.5 NEWPORT--MESA UNIFIED DISTRICT Corona del Mar High 465 517 28.6 78.1 93.3 41.6 Costa Mesa High 404 496 0.2 64.7 79.9 26.3 Estancia High 443 498 11.8 67.7 90.8 32.6 Newport Harbor High 462 529 41.0 68.3 61.6 28.8 ORANGE UNIFIED DISTRICT Canyon High 420 490 8.3 80.3 95.7 31.9 El Modena High 426 491 16.5 78.7 86.7 31.2 Orange High 419 493 3.0 62.9 70.6 25.9 Villa Park High 438 503 11.4 78.9 86.4 24.2 71.6 PLACENTIA UNIFIED DISTRICT El Dorado High -- -- 10.9 69.7 97.3 23.2 Esperanza High -- -- 9.9 67.2 85.1 18.9 Valencia High -- -- 16.6 76.9 81.9 23.2 SADDLEBACK VALLEY UNIFIED DISTRICT El Toro High 455 498 8.2 74.4 84.9 30.3 Laguna Hills High 414 489 10.2 74.1 83.8 33.8 Mission Viejo High 440 496 25.3 79.5 96.1 39.2 SANTA ANA UNIFIED DISTRICT Saddleback High -- -- 13.1 73.5 93.3 22.4 Santa Ana High -- -- 4.3 63.8 92.5 21.5 Valley High -- -- 0.5 61.8 69.5 22.3 TUSTIN UNIFIED DISTRICT Foothill High 450 509 22.8 65.5 97.0 38.3 Tustin High 440 496 11.8 69.0 93.3 23.3

ENROLLMENTS History/ Social Foreign Fine High School Science Language Arts State Average 52 22 65 ANAHEIM UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT Anaheim High 25.5 25.2 65.0 Cypress High 11.6 19.9 65.2 Katella High 12.1 21.5 61.2 Kennedy High 16.2 19.3 60.5 Loara High 36.0 13.5 68.7 Magnolia High 7.4 15.3 56.8 Savanna High 24.2 13.9 58.8 Western High 11.7 9.8 64.7 BREA--OLINDA UNIFIED DISTRICT Brea Olinda High 46.0 29.8 53.2 CAPISTRANO UNIFIED DISTRICT Capistrano Valley High 65.8 32.8 67.2 San Clemente High 56.3 27.1 65.5 Dana Hills High 37.4 41.7 65.9 FULLERTON UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT Buena Park High 357 29.5 71.0 Fullerton High 16.1 14.7 69.0 La Habra High 27.5 31.1 79.5 Sonora High 26.3 37.4 69.1 Sunny Hills High 34.5 40.5 68.8 Troy High 35.5 34.3 60.3 GARDEN GROVE UNIFIED DISTRICT Bolsa Grande High 12.5 18.7 65.8 Garden Grove High 17.1 17.1 68.7 La Quinta High 16.9 13.4 72.1 Los Amigos High 408 13.2 73.8 Pacifica High 13.8 19.0 71.9 Rancho Alamitos High 11.9 10.8 79.1 Santiago High 20.8 13.0 70.1 HUNTINGTON BEACH UNION HIGH DISTRICT Edison High 37.9 26.7 58.2 Fountain Valley 432 22.2 54.4 Huntington Beach H. 16.4 21.2 61.6 Marina High 14.4 26.2 56.8 Ocean View High 20.4 19.5 55.2 Westminster High 13.4 19.6 47.8 IRVINE UNIFIED DISTRICT Irvine High 49.3 38.4 62.8 University High 454 41.6 53.7 Woodbridge High 428 33.9 64.8 LAGUNA BEACH UNIFIED DISTRICT Laguna Beach High 57.2 35.8 74.6 LOS ALAMITOS UNIFIED DISTRICT Los Alamitos High 25.4 41.1 75.0 NEWPORT--MESA UNIFIED DISTRICT Corona del Mar High 40.2 45.1 68.5 Costa Mesa High 14.3 21.8 66.3 Estancia High 17.4 35.1 67.4 Newport Harbor High 19.0 28.3 66.4 ORANGE UNIFIED DISTRICT Canyon High 83.3 24.0 81.1 El Modena High 72.4 31.0 85.1 Orange High 49.8 15.0 77.7 Villa Park High 438 35.3 80.0 PLACENTIA UNIFIED DISTRICT El Dorado High 47.1 16.7 69.2 Esperanza High 32.8 8.1 76.6 Valencia High 37.3 10.6 64.7 SADDLEBACK VALLEY UNIFIED DISTRICT El Toro High 25.0 31.4 55.7 Laguna Hills High 15.8 31.3 65.2 Mission Viejo High 27.4 25.2 68.1 SANTA ANA UNIFIED DISTRICT Saddleback High 81.0 26.0 88.4 Santa Ana High 72.9 18.8 84.0 Valley High 55.9 8.9 86.6 TUSTIN UNIFIED DISTRICT Foothill High 29.1 40.4 63.7 Tustin High 24.2 22.1 63.7

SAT VERBAL: Average score among students taking the Scholastic Achievement Test college entranceexamination. Results range from 200 to 800. SAT MATH: Average score among students taking the Scholastic Achievement Test college entrance examination. Results range from 200 to 800. ADVANCED PLACEMENT: Percentage of students who passed Advanced Placement examinations this year with a score of 3 or above. COURSE ENROLLMENTS: Percentage of students enrolled in classes in particular subject areas: mathfor three years, English for four years, science for three years, social science for four years,foreign language for three years, fine arts for one year.