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Sat-9 scores improve across district
by Jason Dietrich
Students from every school in the Redondo Unified School District have reason to pat themselves on the back. Almost across the board, Redondo school kids did better on the SAT-9 than they have in the past two years the test has been given.
The SAT-9 tests are standard fill-in-the-bubble tests given to nearly every student in grades two through 11 in the United States. The test compares scores in reading, math, language, spelling, science and social studies against national standards.
Compared with their scores from last year, students in Redondo made big strides.
"We’re very pleased with our scores," said Jerry Klein, director of testing for Redondo Unified and the district’s public information officer.
Almost every category in every grade showed some improvement, with the most notable jumps being at the second grade level. Beryl second graders went from the 61st percentile in 1999 to the 80th percentile in 2000 in language skills. Lincoln school second graders brought their spelling scores up from the 49th percentile to the 74th percentile between 1999 and 2000.
The second grade was also home to some of the highest scores earned in the district. Jefferson second graders jumped from the 81 percentile to in 1999 to the 90 percentile in 2000. Second graders at Tulita jumped from the 74th percentile in 1999 to the 90th percentile in 2000.
And while those results are encouraging, Klein warns against putting too much faith in numbers.
"Standardized testing is only one of a number of factors that go into an education. The numbers may be going up, but that can also mean we’re teaching to the test," he said.
The grade level that most concerns the district, said Klein, is the sixth grade. This may be linked to the changing student/teacher ratio as some kids make the jump from the elementary to middle school level, Klein added. Students in grade six are no longer in classrooms with limited class size. Instead of 20 students per class, there may be as many as 28 or 30. Sixth graders at Adams scored below the national average in reading at the 44th percentile. Parras’ sixth graders scored significantly better ranking in the 58th percentile group.
The district plans to turn around this slump by coaching teachers in teaching reading. Teachers will be attending monthly seminars with instructors at district headquarters to learn new teaching techniques and compare data on how well they’re working.
Another problem area is 11th grade testing. Students in 11th grade at Redondo Unified High School scored in the 39th percentile in reading. Juniors are already overwhelmed with tests, and their focus is likely to be on the Advanced Placement and Scholastic Aptitude Tests that could affect their college careers, said Klein.
"They think the SAT-9 doesn’t count. But that’s not the case," said Klein, who hopes that greater incentives such as possible college tuition assistance help convince 11th graders to give the test their all.
The scores for each school will be available over the internet on July 17 at www.cde.ca.gov. ER