SAT SCORES RISE IN A.V. QUARTZ HILL TOPS AMONG 4 SCHOOLS LISTED.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - SAT scores of students at four Antelope Valley Union High School District schools increased in 1999-2000, records released Tuesday show.

But of the four schools for which scores were released Tuesday, only Quartz Hill High School's numbers were above the national and state averages.

The 134 Quartz Hill High students who took the test averaged 529 on the math and 511 on the verbal portion of the Scholastic Assessment Test, the results showed.

The previous year, the 157 students who took the test averaged 511 in math and 497 in verbal. A total of 800 points per section is the maximum.

The state's average 2000 math score on the SAT was 518, four points above the national average and four points above the average 1999 score for California.

On the verbal test, the state average was 497, the same as last year. The national verbal average was 505, also the same as last year.

At Highland High School, 239 students took the test and posted averages of 484 on the verbal and 485 on the math, compared with 470 in verbal and 478 in math in 1998-99. A total of 189 Highland students took the test last year.

Highland Principal Pat Iaccino attributed the higher scores and higher number of students taking the test to more emphasis on preparing students for life after graduation and a districtwide push to make students and parents more aware of the test.

``In the past three to four years, there's been a tremendous emphasis on instruction overall and preparing kids for the future, whether that be college or careers,'' Iaccino said. ``We're just trying to make more and more students aware of taking the test and making them aware of taking it more than once.''

At Palmdale High School, the 114 students who took the test averaged 474 on verbal and 484 on the math. Last year, the verbal and math averages were 468.

At Littlerock High School, 127 students took the test. Students there averaged 465 on the verbal section, up from 457. In math, students averaged 451, up from 442.

No scores were available Tuesday for Antelope Valley High School and Lancaster High School.

``Given the fact that the percentage of California children who take the test is somewhat higher than the national average, and that the profile of our children is more diverse, poorer, less likely to have parents who are college graduates, and more likely to speak English as a second language, people should take heart from these results,'' state schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin said of the statewide increase.

This year, 156,145 California students took the SAT, which is 49 percent of the estimated high school graduates, the same as 1999, Eastin said.

Fifty-seven percent of California's test-takers were minority students, up from 36 percent in 1985. Nationally, 33 percent of the test-takers were minority students in 2000.

Nationwide, 9 percent of those taking the test indicated that they spoke another language before they learned English; in California, 19 percent spoke another language first. These students in California had an average verbal score of 446 and an average math score of 507. Nationally, the same subgroup of students had an average verbal score of 455 and an average math score of 517.

In addition, 11 percent of California's test-takers had parents who did not receive high school diplomas, compared with 4 percent of test-takers nationally.

Female test-takers in California did not score as high as male test-takers, but they are catching up. Females scored 495 in verbal, up three points from last year, while males scored 500 in verbal, down three points from 1999. Females scored 501 in math, up five points from 1999. Males scored 539 in math, up two points from 1999.

SAT SCORES

Here's how students scored on the SAT and the precent increase or decrease in the number of students taking the test:

ANTELOPE VALLEY UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT

SCHOOL 99 2000 Percent change

Verbal Math Verbal Math

QUARTZ HILL 497 511 511 529 -14.7%

LITTLEROCK 457 442 465 451 +14.4%

PALMDALE 468 468 474 484 -14.9%

HIGHLAND 470 478 484 485 +26.5%

LANCASTER NA NA NA NA NA

ANTELOPE VALLEY NA NA NA NA NA

STATE 497 514 497 518 +2.9%

NATION 505 511 505 514 +3.2% Source: Quartz Hill, Littlerock, Highland, Palmdale high schools

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Chart: SAT SCORES