DISMAL SCORES; L.A. FAR BELOW AVERAGE ON TEST.

Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles Unified students scored in the bottom third of the country in the Stanford 9 standardized test - and on average failed to even match their national peers in any subject, according to exam results released Monday.

Test results for English-speaking and nonfluent pupils showed LAUSD students underperformed students in other districts in Los Angeles County for every grade and every subject even though 48,000 limited-English students opted out of taking the exam.

Bucking a state trend that showed higher scores among the youngest students, the LAUSD's tallies showed its third and fourth grades were the lowest performers, while 11th-graders did best.

California students scored just below the 50th percentile national average, while Los Angeles students ranked in the 20th or 30th percentile in nearly every grade and category, although the state's figures did not include bilingual students because of a court order.

Los Angeles' bilingual students in second through 11th grades, required to take the exam in English under a controversial state law, scored poorly in all subjects and never pulled out of the bottom quarter of the country.

This is the first time in four years California schools have all taken the same standardized exam, and the first time that districts have been required to administer it to their bilingual pupils - setting a benchmark for measuring student achievement.

Superintendent Ruben Zacarias urged caution in interpreting the test scores, saying the requirement to include scores of bilingual students resulted in ``distorted'' figures.

``Although we are releasing the Stanford 9 results today to overwhelming interest of the public and the media, it is important for everyone to understand that the aggregate scores do not accurately reflect the quality of instruction occurring in this school district,'' said Zacarias in a written statement. ``With the large number (46 percent) of limited English proficient students in our classrooms, comparisons with other districts and even between LAUSD schools can be misleading and should be avoided.''

But a spokesman for Gov. Pete Wilson, who pushed for the statewide test, said the scores pointed out the need for improvement.

``These scores clearly point out that we must continue our efforts to reform California's education system,'' said spokesman Ron Low. ``California's students should not be scoring at or below the nation's average. California's students deserve better than that.''

An estimated 462,946 LAUSD students this year in first through 11th grades were tested in such subjects as reading, math, language, spelling, science and social science. The state did not require first-graders to be tested, but the LAUSD decided to give the test to its students fluent in English.

Last year, 363,612 students fluent in English in second through 10th grades took the test. Because most bilingual students were not included, the results are not comparable, LAUSD officials said.

The Stanford 9 results are given in percentiles, showing how students ranked against their peers across the nation. A student who scores 25, for example, did better than 25 percent of students in the country.

San Fernando Valley students in fourth, eighth and 10th grades did better in all categories released Monday when compared to districtwide numbers.

Individual student scores still are being sent to parents, with some reports not expected to reach homes until the end of the month.

Districtwide reading averages ranged from the 21st percentile to the 29th percentile, with third-graders bringing in the lowest results. That poor showing was a blow to the LAUSD, since Zacarias has called for for all third-graders to be reading at grade level as part of his plan to increase student achievement.

Math scores were higher - from the 27th to the 37th percentile - yet still well below the national average of 50.

Language scores echoed math scores with the lowest averages at 27 for third- and 10th-graders and the highest score at 37.

LAUSD Board of Education member David Tokofsky said low scores, especially in reading, could be traced to poor leadership in the highest levels of the district. While Zacarias was urging change - including increasing test scores by 8 percentile points in four years - his staff was not following through, Tokofsky said.

Tokofsky said there was little coordination in instruction. For example, schools were using 18 different programs to teach reading, and were offering very little staff development, he said.

Zacarias' performance in his first year on the job will be evaluated today by the board.

Although most districts already have issued their Stanford 9 scores, the LAUSD has let its results out in a trickle. On Monday, it presented the results by grade, along with a school-by-school breakdown for fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders.

Detailed information for all grades will be released eventually, although district officials were not able to say when.

Lilliam Castillo, deputy superintendent for instruction, said it was important for the LAUSD to carefully analyze the scores before their release - and denied the delay was ``for the sake of spin.''

However, district officials were not able to provide any in-depth analysis of results for the three grades it released Monday. Castillo said she believed that scores were ``not good enough and we need to do a lot more to bring them up.''

On June 30, the district released results only for its students fluent in English, showing the average score rose slightly from last year from the 31st to the 32nd percentile. Zacarias said that comparison was the only valid comparison.

``These comparisons are the ones we will find useful in helping us to improve student achievement and that's our bottom line,'' Zacarias said in a statement.

The LAUSD had balked from releasing numbers for its bilingual education students, citing a judge who banned districts from issuing those scores. Lawyers representing the Oakland and Berkeley school districts argued that scores from bilingual students would be falsely low, and fail to indicate what they know.

The state is fighting that temporary restraining order, and will go to court later this week to request that it be lifted.