Conejo Valley Schools Record Top SAT Scores : Education: Thousand Oaks High and Westlake High both score above 1,000 points in combined math and verbal skills test results.

THOUSAND OAKS —  Conejo Valley high school students on average outperformed their peers in Ventura County on this year’s revised SAT, with schools in the Conejo Valley district posting the top three math scores and three of the four highest verbal scores.

Verbal scores at Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park high schools both shot up 19 points over last year, putting both schools well above national and state averages on the Scholastic Assessment Test. Westlake High School reported the district’s highest math SAT score, with a 24-point jump over last year.

Camarillo High School in the Oxnard Union School District recorded the county’s second-best verbal score of 464 after Thousand Oaks High’s 477.

While scores were mailed to most school districts last week, Conejo Valley Unified’s results were not available until Thursday.

Test-takers at all three district schools in general bested state average scores of 485 in math and 417 in verbal skills as well as the national averages of 482 in math and 428 in verbal sections.

Richard Simpson, assistant superintendent of instructional services, said the Conejo Valley district’s high scores reflect intensive writing and math programs implemented in all grade levels in the mid-1980s.

“The SAT is not a measure of what you did in 12th grade,” Simpson said. “It’s a cumulative record of what students did throughout their time here.”

Simpson said few students transfer in and out of the district, so that many taking the test in their senior year have benefited from programs in elementary, junior high and high school.

Nationally, scores increased five points on the average verbal score and three points on math on the college entrance exam updated to better assess student skills. The 1995 test featured lengthier reading passages in the verbal section and more problems requiring actual solutions in the math section than in previous years.

Only Thousand Oaks High reported a decrease in results, with math scores falling from 551 in 1994 to 544 in 1995.

The top score possible on the exam is 800 and the lowest is 200. Many students wanting to enroll in colleges and universities must take the SAT for admission.

With combined on-average scores of 1009 for Westlake High and 1021 for Thousand Oaks, both schools topped the 1,000 mark, which is considered a good score on the exam.

Newbury Park posted a combined average score of 986.

Simpson said his district sends about 80% of its students to community or four-year colleges.

About 67% of the seniors at Westlake High and about half of the seniors at Thousand Oaks High and Newbury Park High took the exam, Simpson said.

“It’s certainly one measure that needs to be taken seriously,” Simpson said. “I wouldn’t say it’s the only one by a long shot. But we consider it important because colleges consider the scores when admitting students.”

Ron Corcillo, an SAT program director with the Princeton Review, a testing preparation service, said his company recently opened offices in Thousand Oaks and Oak Park because of the large number of students wanting to be coached on the test.

Students pay $695 to take a six-week course that Corcillo said boosts test scores 137 points on average. Corcillo said the SAT may indeed be important for college admission, but he downplays the test’s ability to measure college promise.

“The SAT is a better indicator of how much your parents make than what your college grades will be,” Corcillo said.

Eric Wahlgren is a Times staff writer and Lisa Bowman is a correspondent.

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Conejo Valley SAT Scores

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1993-94 1994-95 Math Verbal Math Verbal Newbury Park High 510 440 527 459 Thousand Oaks High 551 458 544 477 Westlake High 527 456 551 458 State average 482 413 485 417 National average 479 423 482 428

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Source: Conejo Valley Unified School District