SAUGUS HIGH HITS API GOAL TEST SCORES FALL AT MANY SCV SCHOOLS.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Only one Santa Clarita high school met the state's standards in the Academic Performance Index scores released Thursday by the California Department of Education.

Saugus High achieved its target by raising its base score by five points. Canyon High School just maintained its base score, with a slight increase - up by 11 points - noted for Latino students. Valencia High School dropped 13 points overall, with scores 21 points lower for white non-Latino students.

Those three were the only area high schools whose scores were available. Hart High did not have valid 2003 API scores for comparison, and both Golden Valley and West Ranch, which opened this year, are too new for assessment.

The report notes that 62 percent of schools statewide made progress, but just 48 percent met their growth targets, a measurement that indicates significant improvement by the school and by student subgroups defined by socioeconomics and ethnicity.

At the junior high level, Arroyo Seco, which had exceeded the state's performance target of 800 by four points, dropped by 16 points to a score of 788. Lower scores were noted for both Latino students, with a 25-point drop, and non-Latino white students, a 12-point drop. La Mesa dropped 15 points overall - with Latino students down by 35 points and socioeconomically disadvantaged students at the school experiencing a 41-point drop.

Placerita Junior High dropped two points overall, due to economic challenges, and Sierra Vista missed its goal by one point despite a 22-point gain in the socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroup. New schools Rancho Pico and Rio Norte were not included.

In the Sulphur Springs School District in Canyon Country - one of four local elementary systems - four schools showed a decline in scores, with Valley View Elementary dropping 26 points overall and 45 points for Latino students. Economically challenged students' scores were also 21 points lower than last year.

Kathy Wright, assistant superintendent for instructional services for the Sulphur Springs district, said the scores took some principals by surprise. She said a new state-recommended language-arts program might have caused some of the decrease, as teachers are still getting used to the materials.

``We've had quite a bit of growth and transiency at Valley View, with many new students coming in as they did at Canyon Springs,'' she said, noting the Canyon Springs score was up by 21 points. ``It's really hard to say exactly what caused the shift; one year the score will grow 28 points, and the next year it's down.''

The report notes that 32 percent of Canyon Springs students' parents did not graduate from high school.

``Sometimes when you have a large number of English-language learners, it can have an impact,'' she said. ``They struggle more academically, and the parents may be having a tough time making ends meet at home, or they might not feel comfortable helping their students with homework, especially if it's something like algebra that they may not have studied.''

Wright said that Canyon Springs and Valley View qualify for federal assistance in the form of additional instructors or materials.

In the Saugus Union School District, Cedarcreek Elementary dropped 20 points, largely due to socioeconomic challenges. Latino students' scores dropped 27 points and white students' scores went down 15 points. Santa Clarita Elementary School's cumulative score dropped 15 points; scores for non-Latino white students dropped by eight points and Latino students' scores went down six points.

In the Newhall School District, Wiley Canyon's score dropped 19 points. Reduced numbers were due to a significant percentage of students new to the school and several learning English as a second language. Non-Latino white students' test scores were lower by 22 points, while Latino students' were down 19 points.

The 2003-04 API Growth reports for more than 7,200 schools are available on the California Department of Education Web site at www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ap/index.ap.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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Source: California Department of Education