High School Students California

When Robin Abdelmalik first looked at his diploma from Moorpark High School earlier this month, he was surprised. He hadn't expected to see so many honors marked on it. A cluster of seals for passing state exams with high honors. A silver stamp certifying Abdelmalik as one of the school's salutatorians, those whose grade point averages topped 4.0.

The dropout rate for Orange County schools remained less than the state average, and Santa Ana Unified continued to see the number of dropouts declining, despite having the county's highest average, according to figures released by the state Thursday. While schools across California saw an average of 2.8% of their students drop out, the rate at Orange County schools was 2%, just a pinch higher than the previous year's 1.9%. Santa Ana Unified's rate dropped to 3.2% from the previous year's 4.

She plays the piano, dances ballet, speaks French, and is good with a camera. She likes to model and act. But she would rather be an astronaut some day. Meet Clarissa Ngo, 18, your ideal California teen-ager. In February, Ngo won the Teen Image Award during the Miss Teen California Scholarship Pageant for "personifying the ideal teen-ager." She eventually placed first runner-up among 91 contestants in competitions held in Los Angeles, winning a seven-week modeling scholarship and $1,500 cash.

The rate at which California students graduate from high school went up slightly last year, continuing a five-year trend, according to information released by the state Thursday. At least that's what state officials think happened. Even as the state released its annual report, officials acknowledged they do not have reliable data on how many students actually finished high school or dropped out.

While Southern California high school students on Saturday night celebrated the end of the grueling two-day Academic Decathlon, officials were embarrassed that two written questions in the contest had to be invalidated. Two multiple-choice questions on the social studies portion of the intellectual contest had incorrect answers, angering many students and coaches. "They were poor questions," acknowledged Judy Combs, executive director of the California Academic Decathlon. "They were confusing.

Here are the 12th grade California Assessment Program reading and math scores for high schools in Los Angeles County. The tests are administered annually to high school seniors throughout the state and are meant to show how schools and districts, not individual students, are performing. State education officials have set a goal of three points of growth per year. * Districts are in boldface; individual schools are in lightface. Three years of test results are given.

Hoping to reduce the number of college freshmen in its remedial classes, California State University wants to test thousands of high school juniors in English and math so these students can brush up on any deficient skills before they enroll in college. But the university's plans have hit a snag. Gov. Gray Davis has shelved Cal State's proposal to expand its pilot testing program to the 200 high schools in California that send the most students in need of remedial work to state universities.

Longtime science teacher Dee Strange calls it "the onslaught." She refers to that chaotic morning each spring when the middle-school students descend on her classroom laboratory--sometimes with frazzled parents in tow--tugging three-sided display boards and assorted paraphernalia: their science projects. "Leave your backpacks outside, OUTSIDE!" cautioned a lab-coated Strange one recent morning. "They'll knock over somebody's hard work, and then we'll have tears."

The dropout rate for Orange County schools remained less than the state average, and Santa Ana Unified continued to see the number of dropouts declining, despite having the county's highest average, according to figures released by the state Thursday. While schools across California saw an average of 2.8% of their students drop out, the rate at Orange County schools was 2%, just a pinch higher than the previous year's 1.9%. Santa Ana Unified's rate dropped to 3.2% from the previous year's 4.

The rate at which California students graduate from high school went up slightly last year, continuing a five-year trend, according to information released by the state Thursday. At least that's what state officials think happened. Even as the state released its annual report, officials acknowledged they do not have reliable data on how many students actually finished high school or dropped out.

A UCLA study of a key component of Gov. Gray Davis' merit scholarship proposal has found that recipients would be mostly middle-class whites and Asians. The study, backed by civil rights attorneys who believe the scholarship money would be better spent by developing more college prep courses for blacks and Latinos in inner-city schools, analyzed Davis' proposal by focusing on Santa Monica High School, whose diversity closely mirrors the rest of California.

Hoping to reduce the number of college freshmen in its remedial classes, California State University wants to test thousands of high school juniors in English and math so these students can brush up on any deficient skills before they enroll in college. But the university's plans have hit a snag. Gov. Gray Davis has shelved Cal State's proposal to expand its pilot testing program to the 200 high schools in California that send the most students in need of remedial work to state universities.

California Academic Decathlon officials invalidated two questions on the social studies multiple-choice test because of erroneous information, angering students and coaches who recognized the errors before completing the section on Friday. "They were poor questions," acknowledged Judy Combs, executive director of the California Academic Decathlons. "They were confusing. They should not have been on the test."

While Southern California high school students on Saturday night celebrated the end of the grueling two-day Academic Decathlon, officials were embarrassed that two written questions in the contest had to be invalidated. Two multiple-choice questions on the social studies portion of the intellectual contest had incorrect answers, angering many students and coaches. "They were poor questions," acknowledged Judy Combs, executive director of the California Academic Decathlon. "They were confusing.

More California students are staying in school, taking college prep courses and passing tough exams that earn them college credit, according to statewide statistics released today. Educators were heartened by the annual review of school performance, which compiles data from California high schools in nine categories. But the improvement is slight, and they freely admit that in some cases it is due to better record keeping rather than actual changes in student achievement.

Get ready, here it comes: an avalanche of information about how well students are learning to read, spell and figure in California public schools. For high schoolers, the data also will measure their knowledge of science and social studies. Come June 30, the state will post on the World Wide Web (http://www.cde.ca.gov) test scores for all of those subjects for every school, district, county--and the state as a whole. Scores will be produced for grades 2-11.

State Supt. of Schools Delaine Eastin has chosen Lynwood High's student body president to represent California in next year's U.S. Senate Youth Program. Joel Estrada, who also serves as the California Youth Governor, will join a high school student from Tracy during a trip to Washington in March. They are among 104 students scheduled to meet their senators and perhaps President Bill Clinton during a four-day visit.

More California high school students are taking steps to prepare for college but a smaller percentage of them are satisfactorily completing all the courses and tests required for admission to the state's public universities, a new study shows. Those mixed results released Monday startled state educational leaders who set eligibility standards for the University of California and California State University systems.

When Robin Abdelmalik first looked at his diploma from Moorpark High School earlier this month, he was surprised. He hadn't expected to see so many honors marked on it. A cluster of seals for passing state exams with high honors. A silver stamp certifying Abdelmalik as one of the school's salutatorians, those whose grade point averages topped 4.0.