36-HOUR PREP COURSE CREDITED FOR BOOST IN LAUSD SAT SCORES.

Byline: Erik Nelson and Jennifer Hamm Staff Writers

A year-old prep course for poor and minority students won praise Wednesday for helping Los Angeles Unified students improve their scores on the SAT college placement exam.

According to results released Tuesday, the Los Angeles Unified School District boosted its combined average SAT score by 16 points, to 896 out of 1,600 possible points on the national college entrance exam. Six schools in the San Fernando Valley boasted SAT math averages equal to or above the national average although the LAUSD as a whole ranked well below state and national averages.

The gains were partly attributed to a $10 million statewide SAT prep course that targets low-income minority students. The program is taught by private test prep companies and is offered in Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale school districts among others.

Students who qualify for the federal lunch program pay $5 for the course, which can cost anywhere from $400 to $900.

``We had some amazing results,'' said Gloria Vasquez, co-principal of Glendale High, which boosted its math scores by seven points. ``We had kids go up 100 points.''

Last year, the state's College Preparation Partnership Program provided $1.2 million for Los Angeles Unified to pay for the same top-notch private college prep classes offered to students at Beverly Hills High School. This year, the district expects to receive $2 million in state funds for the program.

About 35 of the 55 LAUSD high schools that offer the program do it through Marina del Rey-based Ivy West, which offers one-on-one tutoring for $1,000 and less-expensive classroom prep courses in cooperation with private and small public school districts. Other LAUSD schools were served by other test prep course providers.

Ajita Gupta, 16, a senior at Chatsworth High School, said her SAT scores jumped 70 points after she took the 36-hour course.

``It helped me, it gave me some timesaving strategies, it taught me how to do some math problems that I had forgotten how to do or had never learned how to do,'' Gupta said.

School officials familiar with the test prep program said it is effective because it improved scores and encouraged more students to take the grueling test.

``They were fabulous. I don't know how the instructors were able to keep those kids awake and engaged,'' Chatsworth college counselor Ivna Gusmao said of the private instructors.

Los Angeles Unified officials said the program helped boost overall SAT scores by targeting underprivileged students.

``When we focus on students in need, then I think the entire district benefits, because we see gains in average scores,'' said Doug Trelfa, coordinator of Planning Assessment and Research.

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Chart: SAT scores