The Arcadia Unified School District again ranked among the top 10% of statewide districts in the latest California Assessment Program (CAP) results. CAP scores were based on tests given to 3rd and 6th grade students last May in math, reading, and writing as well as tests given to 8th-graders in reading, math, history and science.
From elementary school to college, Arcadia students are doing better than the state average, and frequently better than they have done in previous years, according to Wade Askew, Assistant Superintendent in charge of Curriculum and Instruction.
Although Arcadia students slipped in their 1983-84 California Assessment Program scores compared to their own performance last year, they still scored well above the average compared to schools statewide. According to figures released by the Arcadia School District and the State Department of Education, Arcadia students in grades 3, 6, 8 and 12 did well above average in all areas tested.
In essay tests given to California seniors last December, Arcadia students scored 273 on a scale of 400, compared to a national average of 250. However, when compared to similar districts such as Beverly Hills, San Marino and La Canada, Arcadia is ranked in only the 23rd percentile, meaning that 77% of the districts scored higher. This is of interest since San Marino had the highest score in the state.
The Board of Education reviewed results of the California Assessment Test. Arcadia students in grades 3, 6 and 12 scored well above the statewide average of 50.
Test results for Arcadia High School seniors showed a small drop in reading scores and a slight gain in math scores for this year's California Assessment Program.
Arcadia High School students had the highest math scores in 15 years on the SAT, 61 points above the national average, but verbal skills scored 16 points below the national average.
Results of the 1985-86 California Assessment Program show test scores that were "the highest since these current tests have been administered" in Arcadia's 3rd, 6th and 8th grades.
Results of statewide achievement scores for students in grades 3, 6 and 12 indicate that among area schools, only Arcadia Unified School District students scored above the state average in every area examined.
Four area districts, Arcadia among them, scored above the state average, according to 1982 California Assessment Program test results. CAP test scores are given for Arcadia Unified and surrounding school districts for 1981 and 1982.
A report presented by the Arcadia Board of Education indicates that 6th grade students at all Arcadia elementary schools are exceeding reading and math goals set by the state from now through the 1989-90 school year.
Arcadia schools fared very will on the Performance Report for California schools, grade 8, according to a report received by the Arcadia Board of Education. All 3 Arcadia junior high schools meet or exceed all statewide targets.
A report on the Advanced Placement Examinations Program, particularly local student test scores, received a pleased response from the Arcadia School Board at a recent meeting.
Arcadia High School seniors earned $40,403 for their district because they improved their scores on the statewide California Assessment Program. The money was awarded by the state under the Education Improvement Program.
School district gets CAP test scores. Although Arcadia students remained comfortably above the 80th percentile in most categories in California Assessment Program test scores, the influx of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students into the district is having a definite impact. In 1976, there were 63 limited or non-English speaking students in Arcadia school district. As of October 1 this year, 539 students are in the LEP program. 78% of LEP students are Asian; 14 % are Spanish, 2 % European, with the remainder from other cultures. Fifteen languages are represented. See hard copy in Box 51.
In the past 2 years, after 7 years of declining, Scholastic Aptitude Test verbal scores have begun to rise slightly nationwide. But in Arcadia they have continued their downward trend.