Malibu schools score above national and state averages

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Malibu High students’ algebra I and geometry scores dropped, but did not show the kind of drastic decreases that were exhibited elsewhere in the district. General math scores are up.

By Susan Reines/Special to The Malibu Times

Recently released standards-based test scores showed some gains and some losses, but on the whole Malibu schools improved and stayed well above state and national averages.

Scores for the school district as a whole decreased slightly as compared to last year, but also remained comfortably above average, as compared to other districts.

As in 2003, more than 60 percent of students in the district scored better than the national average on the California Achievement Tests for reading, language, and math taken in the spring.

But district-wide, there were minor dips in performance on all three tests, compared to scores from the pervious year. The percentage of students that scored above the national average in reading dropped from 62 percent in 2003 to 60.7 percent in 2004; in math, the percentage fell from 67.9 percent to 66.7 percent. The drop in performance on the language test was nominal, from 64.2 percent in 2003 to 63.8 percent this year.

At Malibu schools, 70 percent or 80 percent of students scored above the national average on almost every test.

Point Dume Marine Science Elementary, in particular, shined, with a whopping 87.3 percent of students beating the national average in math, and 73.8 percent in reading and 80.3 percent in language, outperforming the averages for those categories. The reading performance was the same as the pervious year’s, and language scores rose slightly, but it was in math that the real gains were made-last year, 79.8 percent of students scored better than the national average, as compared to this year’s 87.3 percent.

Point Dume students also fared well when compared to state standards. More than 80 percent received math scores classifying them as advanced or proficient on the California Standards Test, which compares students to criteria set by the state Board of Education.

The other elementary schools performed well, too, with between 65 percent and 79 percent of students beating national averages on every CAT test.

Webster Elementary School dropped a few points on language scores while those for Juan Cabrillo Elementary School increased by about five percentage points, although the overall performance at Webster was still a bit better. Reading and math scores were virtually unchanged at both schools as compared to 2003 scores.

The lowest of all of Malibu schools’ scores was Juan Cabrillo’s performance on the English Language Arts state standards test, with 55.3 percent of students qualifying as “advanced” or “proficient.” Cabrillo scores, as compared to state standards, picked up a few percentage points in math, however.

For the most part, scores improved for grades six, seven and eight at Malibu High, with more than 70 percent of students scoring better than national averages on reading, language and math.

The middle school students did lose some ground on the English Language Arts state standards test, with 63.3 percent of students classified as “advanced” or “proficient,” down slightly from last year’s 65 percent.

Math scores drop in algebra, geometry increase elsewhere

Some recent media reports have stated sharp drops in the district’s eighth and ninth-grade algebra scores and 10th-grade geometry scores on the state standards tests.

Malibu High students’ algebra I scores dropped somewhat but did not show the kind of drastic decreases that were exhibited elsewhere in the district, and algebra II performance actually bettered slightly. Geometry performance for ninth-graders did fall significantly, from 87 percent qualifying as “advanced” or “proficient” in 2003 to only 47 percent making it into those categories this year. But tenth graders did better on geometry than they did last year.

In general, math scores at the middle and high school levels on the state standards tests were consistent with previous year’s results, with some increases and decreases here and there. In fact, scores for ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders at Malibu High improved in every area as compared to national averages, with more than 70 percent surpassing national averages on reading, math and language tests.English Language Arts scores on the state standards tests also improved for ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders. Sixty-four percent qualified as advanced or proficient, up from last year’s 61.7 percent.

School district officials were unavailable for comment on the test scores until the district conducts its own analysis. Test scores can be viewed at California Department of Education’s Standardized Testing and Reporting website, star.cde.ca.gov