3 Schools Cite Reasons for Big Test Gains

Two elementary schools in Oxnard and another in Ventura posted the strongest gains in Ventura County on the Stanford 9 test in the past three years, increases that administrators attribute to teacher collaboration, better test preparation and enhanced basic skills instruction.

Mar Vista, El Rio and Pierpont elementary students showed marked improvement on their test scores, which were released this week by the California Department of Education. At all three schools, the number of students who met or exceeded the national average increased by between 21 and 24 percentage points compared with 1998, according to a statistical analysis by The Times.

“This is incredible,” said Nancy Carroll, superintendent of the Ocean View Elementary School District, which includes Mar Vista. “We have great teachers and great principals, and we’ve been really focusing on reading.”

About 98,600 students countywide took the standardized test, which measured basic skills in reading, math, language, science, spelling and social science.

Some of the campuses that showed the most improvement may be eligible for cash bonuses up to $25,000, based on Gov. Gray Davis’ accountability program that ties state money to increases on the Stanford 9 achievement test. The new accountability rankings will be released in the fall.

In addition to these three specific schools, several smaller districts such as Mupu Elementary in Santa Paula, Fillmore Unified and Mesa Union Elementary in Somis also significantly improved their scores.

Ventura County Supt. of Schools Chuck Weis said the three-year gains show that these districts are on the right track, and are starting to catch up to their counterparts across the county. “The lower-achieving districts appear to be closing the gap,” he said.

Their scores, however, still rank below school districts in Conejo Valley, Oak Park and Camarillo. For example, in Conejo Valley Unified, nearly 72% of students scored at or above the national average in reading, and about 77% of students met that benchmark in math.

In Mupu Elementary, about 35% of students scored at or above the national average in reading, and 38% of students at least met the 50th percentile.

During interviews Tuesday, administrators from Mar Vista and El Rio in Oxnard and Pierpont in Ventura said a combination of factors helped their districts do better.

All three campuses, for example, held after-school tutoring sessions for low-performing students. Administrators at all three schools used last year’s scores to guide instruction. And they all emphasized teaching to the state’s newly adopted academic standards.

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About 550 students attend Mar Vista Elementary. Three-fourths of the school’s students speak limited English, and most of them are in traditional bilingual classes. More than half of the student body receives free or reduced-price lunches, a federal indicator of lower income.

Of those tested, about 38% of students scored at or above the national average in reading this year, up about 13 percentage points since 1998. And about 58% met the national average in math, up about 30 points since 1998.

Altogether, Mar Vista achieved the biggest improvement of any school in Ventura County. The number of students who scored at or above the 50th percentile in math, reading and language combined rose about 23 percentage points over the last three years.

“These kids are doing great, even though they don’t speak English, are transient and come from migratory backgrounds,” Carroll said. “There is some strong teaching and learning going on here.”

Mar Vista has a dedicated staff of teachers, Carroll said, who are frequently meeting to review student work and progress. The teachers have also taken a close look at the state’s new academic standards, and have aligned their curriculum to those standards.

“Even though the bars of accountability have been raised, they all work together to meet the challenge,” Carroll said of the Mar Vista staff. “And they truly believe that the kids can succeed, despite the challenges.”

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El Rio Elementary, of the Rio Elementary School District, has about 630 students, about a third of whom speak limited English. About 65% receive free and reduced-price lunches.

In reading, 44% of students scored at or above the national average, up 16 percentage points since 1998. In math, 60% scored at least at the 50th percentile, up 32 points from two years ago.

Principal Orvel Jones said his staff worked hard to identify, according to the standards, what students at every grade level need to know. Teachers wrote specific goals and objectives, and set target dates. For example, they decided that fifth-graders should learn how to use reference materials to gather information and write reports by March 15.

Parents received lists of what their children needed to learn. The school also involved parents by holding family math nights, during which parents and students worked together to solve math problems.

Teachers spent some time instructing their students on test-taking strategies, such as how to understand directions and how to fill in the bubbles.

“But the real key to this is not the bubbles,” Jones said. “The real key is focusing on the standards. The reason scores are up is because our children have learned the basics in mathematics and reading.”

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Pierpont Elementary is a small school in the Ventura Unified School District, with only about 280 students. Fewer than 1% of its students speak limited English. About 15% receive free or reduced-price lunches.

This year’s scores showed that 75% of students scored at or above the national average in reading, up almost 15 percentage points. In math, 83% of students met the national average in math, up 37 points.

“We are a bit surprised at the tremendous growth, but we are pleased,” said Lee Warner, who has been Pierpont’s principal for five years.

Warner said the teachers used test preparation booklets to get students accustomed to the format of the exam. But they spent more time focusing on the core subjects, he said.

Warner said the increase in scores may also have to do with the changing demographics of the school. Several years ago, the campus drew from West Ventura, where there are more low-income and Spanish-speaking families. Now, they pull more of their students from the beachfront community. More families moved to the neighborhood adjacent to the midtown school.

Teachers held monthly meetings with their colleagues to review the state standards, and they posted daily goals for their students. They also met frequently with district reading and math specialists to brainstorm specific teaching methods.

Throughout the year, Pierpont teachers focused heavily on spelling and on problem solving in math.

“I’m very proud of the staff who took it seriously,” Warner said. “Their dedication seems to have paid off.”