Gary Moskowitz
A districtwide push the past few years to make Glendale students
more successful in mathematics appears to have born fruit, especially
in the middle schools, Glendale Unified's 2002 standardized test
results suggest.
Based on the most recent results of the Stanford 9 Achievement
Test, nearly all of Glendale's elementary, middle and comprehensive
high schools scored above the 50th percentile on the math portion of
the test.
SAT 9 scores in reading, spelling and language were less
impressive. Growth in spelling since 1998 reached percentages as high
as 37%, while language and reading scores in some cases dropped as
much as 5%, according to district reports.
More than 40% of Glendale students speak a primary language other
than English.
In total, the district showed roughly 84% growth on the SAT 9 in
2002.
Glendale schools Supt. Jim Brown attributed the success in math to
effective teaching, teacher training and the district's efforts to
make math improvement a K-12 effort.
In many cases, the district has applied for waivers for its math
programs when state funding was not available, Brown said.
"It has been a monumental task to commit to setting higher
standards for ourselves," Brown said. "There is a lot of good work
being done prior to ninth grade to prepare students for the algebra
and geometry that they need to know."
Glendale's nationwide rankings on the Academic Performance Index
will be released next week. Its rankings will be based on SAT 9
scores and scores on the California Standards Tests in English,
language arts and math.
Beginning this year, the SAT 9 no longer will be used to assess
California students.
A new version of the California Achievement Test will be paired
with the California Standards Tests in 2003, according to Terry
Dutton, the district's director of assessment and evaluation.
Glendale's 2002 scores should be well above average statewide,
Dutton said.
With such a high number of students in the district whose first
language is not English, the hard part is not just getting students
to spell, but enabling them to read and analyze a short story, Dutton
said.
"Our kids are doing very well, and our [English-language learners]
are above average," Dutton said.
"Our goal for all of these kids is to move them to regular
instruction in English as soon as possible."
School principals, teachers and parents will be expected to
identify individual students who need assistance and problem areas
after results are released, Dutton said.
