AREA KIDS' TEST SCORES ABOVE AVERAGE `THAT IS, OF COURSE, WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT OF US,' SCHOOL OFFICIAL SAYS.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Students in most grades in the Santa Clarita Valley continued to beat the state average on standardized test scores, according to statistics released Tuesday.

A majority of California students at each grade level performed below the ``proficient'' level in English in the state's 2006 Standardized Testing and Reporting program.

But Santa Clarita Valley school districts saw most or all of their scores at ``proficient'' or higher in English.

School districts in the area also did well in math proficiency, compared with the state average.

``Obviously, we beat the state average,'' said Marc Winger, superintendent of the Newhall School District. ``That is, of course, what people expect of us.''

The Newhall School District's lowest performance was in third-grade English, with only 51 percent of students proficient or better. But in fourth-grade English, 72 percent of students were proficient or better.

In math, 76 percent of Newhall students scored as proficient or better in both third and fourth grades.

In the Saugus Union School District, between 63 and 68 percent of students in each grade scored as proficient or better in English, and between 64 and 75 percent of students in each grade did so in math.

``We're very proud of how we stand in comparison to other districts in the valley, given our very different student population with a high percentage of English-language learners,'' Winger said.

At the secondary level, more students at every grade level in the William S. Hart Union High School District scored as ``proficient'' or better in English than did students on average statewide.

In the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District, 11th and 12th grades were the only ones that fell below the state average in English for the proportion of students rated as proficient or better in English.

But at the district's elementary level, only the third and fourth grades beat the state average for math proficiency.

Even with the Hart district's above-average scores, more of its students will need to score as proficient or better within a few years to meet federal No Child Left Behind benchmarks, said Howard Herl, test data specialist with the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

``They have a good chance of making it,'' Herl said.

Hart schools have shown increases in their percentages of students scoring proficient or better, especially in math, said Vicki Engbrecht, director of curriculum and assessment.

Every high school showed increases in the percentage of students scoring proficient or better in ninth-grade algebra, with an increase from 23 percent to 59 percent at Saugus High School, Engbrecht said.

Saugus School District also has shown improvements, according to Joan Lucid, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

``What we're going to be concentrating on is to really look at those children who aren't quite making it,'' she said.

The district is providing a variety of services, including after-school and summer-school programs, to reach those lower-performing students, she said.

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