FOUR SCHOOLS TO GET HELP STATE ORDERS TEST SCORE AID FROM OUTSIDE EXPERTS.

Byline: Marci Wormser Staff Writer

PALMDALE - California education officials on Wednesday ordered four Antelope Valley schools to seek help from experts to try to boost lagging test scores.

The California Board of Education opted for the order instead of imposing sanctions that could have included reassigning principals or teachers or taking over Tamarisk and Palm Tree schools in Palmdale, Wilsona School in Lake Los Angeles and Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster.

``The state is really being positive and proactive,'' said Willie Thomas, assistant superintendent of educational services of the Palmdale School District, which operates Tamarisk and Palm Tree. ``I think they've made a very, very wise move in allowing us time to reflect. To say I'm relieved would be an understatement. No one wants to be sanctioned. No one wants someone to come in their home and let someone tell them what is best in their home.''

The four local schools were among 24 statewide that the state board, meeting in Sacramento, ordered to participate in the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program.

Though the schools are not the lowest-ranking schools in California, they failed to meet targets for improvements in scores from the Academic Performance Index, a state test for public school students, for two years in a row. The schools failed to meet growth targets for two consecutive years, in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 school years.

Created by a 1999 state law, the API is designed to show how California schools rate against each other. Each school receives a single score - between 200 and 1,000 - based on the students' test scores. The state's goal is a score of 800 at every school.

In the 2001-02 tests, Tamarisk scored 536, Palm Tree scored 618, Wilsona scored 675 and Antelope Valley High scored 541. In 2000-01, the scores were 528 at Tamarisk, 608 at Palm Tree, 690 at Wilsona and 554 at Antelope Valley High.

Under the intervention program agreement, a team of educators will visit the schools to assess the quality and implementation of school plans, visit classrooms, talk with students and teachers, and conduct parent forums.

After the visits, the team will issue a report of recommendations and corrective actions that must be adopted by the districts. The teams will monitor the schools' progress toward meeting specific targets for improvement.

``We are taking a firm but measured approach with the assignment of intervention teams to this ... group of schools,'' said state board President Reed Hastings. ``These experts will get to the root of the problems at these schools and make recommendations that are most appropriate to boost student achievement.''

Participating schools will receive extra funding in exchange for improved student performance.

Palmdale's Mesa Intermediate School, which failed to meet growth targets for three years in a row, agreed to follow a joint intervention agreement last month.

The Mesa agreement calls for steps that include holding monthly meetings among teachers and parents, making sure that classes all have recent state-approved textbooks, re-evaluating the current reading program, offering more training for teachers and offering extra help to students with problems in reading, math or the English language.