SAT SCORES A MIXED BAG : SOME SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT SEE IMPROVEMENT, OTHERS NOTE DECLINE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Antelope Valley high school students' scores this year on the Scholastic Assessment Test for college admission showed mixed results, with some schools seeing improvement and others experiencing declines.

The Antelope Valley Union High School District's 1996 SAT average scores were 482 in verbal and 481 in math, compared to the 1995 scores of 481 in both verbal and math. Eight hundred on each test is a perfect score.

``We see more and more kids taking more academic courses,'' said Mikie Loughridge, director of curriculum and instruction. ``Even though it's not a drastic rise, we're looking at forward motion.''

Nationally, graduates averaged 505 on the verbal exam and 508 on the math portion, officials said. Statewide, students averaged 495 in verbal and 511 on math.

The top local scores were at Quartz Hill High School, where 167 students took the test. They scored on average 504 on the verbal section and 502 on the math. The 1995 Quartz Hill averages were 504 in verbal and 507 in math.

At Antelope Valley High School, the 88 students who took the test scored 503 points on the verbal test, up from 492 points scored in 1995. In math, students scored 486, compared to 474 in 1994, officials said.

At Littlerock High School, 99 students took the test. Students there scored 465 on the verbal section, an increase over the 461 scored in 1995. In math, students scored 459, down from 463 in the previous year.

At Palmdale High School, where 108 students took the exams, verbal scores rose to 456, compared to 454 in 1995. In math, students averaged 472, an increase over the 464 points scored in 1995.

(The 1995 scores are higher than what was reported a year ago. State officials said the 1995 scores were adjusted because the College Board ``recentered'' SAT scores nationally in 1996. This means that the national average scores for test takers were set at 500. Last year's scores also were adjusted to make them comparable to 1996 data. For example, Antelope Valley's 1995 verbal score was reported at 407 a year ago, compared to 492 on Thursday; Antelope Valley's 1995 math score was reported a year ago at 455, compared to 474 Thursday.)

``We have an active Advanced Placement program, and we have mathletes on the math side where Palmdale is one of the top schools,'' said Carl Semotan, an 11th-grade counselor. ``We also have an excellent honors English program, and more students are college-oriented now because that's where the jobs are.''

Highland High School had the highest number of test-taking students at 200. They scored an average of 475 in verbal, down from 485 in 1995. Math scores also declined to 477 from 481 in 1995.

Both Loughridge and Semotan said students take advantage of all-day preparatory workshops on SAT test-taking.

State schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin said one area of concern is figures that show 41 percent of SAT test-takers nationwide have completed at least 20 academic courses, while in California, it's only 30 percent.

``Students who take more courses clearly do better on the exam,'' Eastin said in a written statement.

For example, in California, students who took 20 or more courses had an average score of 552 on the verbal portion and 568 in math, while those who took fewer than 15 courses scored 429 in verbal and 450 in math, Eastin said.

SAT SCORES

Here are SAT scores for Antelope Valley Union High School District high schools for 1995-96. Scores for 1994-95 are in parentheses.

School Verbal Math

Antelope Valley 503 (492) 486 (474)

Littlerock 465 (461) 459 (463)

Palmdale 456 (454) 472 (464)

Highland 475 (485) 477 (481)

Quartz Hill 504 (504) 502 (507)

District 482 (481) 481 (481)

State 495 (492) 511 (509)

Nation 505 (504) 508 (506)

SOURCE: School district

CAPTION(S):

Chart

Chart: SAT SCORES (see text)