Proficiency

Times are tough enough for Californians; they're even tougher for Californians' teeth. "One-quarter of all adults and 28% of children in California have untreated dental caries [cavities]," says Len Finocchio, a senior program officer at the California Healthcare Foundation, a health advocacy group. "Our research tells us that many people in California have been avoiding routine care that might have cost about $100 for a checkup and cleaning, and then find themselves in the emergency room, where they get only an antibiotic, a bill that can average over $600 and instructions to see a dentist."

More campuses in the Los Angeles school system are reaching state academic goals, but the district is still failing to meet important federal targets, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Education. The district scored a 728 last year on the Academic Performance Index, which measures improvement on a 1,000-point scale based on factors such as standardized tests. That represents a 19-point jump for the nation's second-largest district over the previous year.

Your editorial is a prime example of what is basically wrong with bilingual education in the L.A. city schools. There is a difference between good, sound theory and effective, workable practice. The bilingual program currently in place only works where the school population is predominately Spanish-speaking. The program is a disaster in many other schools because it is inflexible, poorly coordinated and poorly planned. Total education often becomes secondary to bilingual education. To say that a poll of teachers can be ignored is ludicrous.

California students showed moderate gains in English and math on standardized test scores released by the state Department of Education on Monday, continuing a long-term trend. But the results also reveal that the state has a long way to go to bring students up to grade level. Overall, 54% of California students scored at the "proficient" level or higher in English-language arts, compared with 52% last year; and 50% scored proficient or better in math, compared with 48% last year.

What percentage of Georgia's fourth-graders are good readers? It seems to depend on whom you ask. The state will tell you that 85% met or exceeded the proficiency benchmark on its 2007 test. On the other hand, that year only 28% scored high enough to be considered proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, an exam administered by the U.S. Department of Education that is usually regarded as the gold standard. The big difference results from where the two tests set their proficiency bars.

Re "Breaking the Language Barrier," Jan. 12. The author writes: "With our arms full of my junk, we passed one another on the driveway many times. . . . But we never spoke. Neither of us could speak the other's language." How shameful that this writer assumed that this Mexican worker could not learn. How sad that the writer did not take the time to stop the worker and describe an article being moved. For example, "Jorge, this is a lamp." By day's end, this worker could have learned many new English words.

Re "ESL Kids Test Higher Than English-Only," July 6: I am worried that Gerry Shelton, testing administrator at the state Department of Education, considers the testing results of fluent English proficiency students "an interesting phenomenon." As a former teacher and current principal in the San Gabriel Valley, I have seen these results for the past 20 years. Any school that breaks down the data knows this is not a phenomenon but a consistent pattern. This should not be a surprise to anyone, especially a testing administrator from the state Department of Education.

Re "Santa Ana Limiting Bilingual Education," Oct. 6: Supporters of Santa Ana Unified School District's decision to limit bilingual waivers think that dismantling bilingual education was a good idea. It wasn't. A study published by the nonprofit research firm West Ed last year confirmed that dumping bilingual education did not increase English proficiency among minority-language children in California. Also, nearly every major review of research in bilingual education concludes that students in bilingual programs acquire English as well as or better than similar students in non-bilingual programs.

Re "Community College Reading Standard," Ventura County letters, May 7. This is written in response to the comments made in a letter regarding the article, "Community Colleges May Shelve Reading Skill Standard," May 1. The letter implies that the community colleges of Ventura County considered not holding their students accountable for reading proficiency prior to commencement. Actually, all three colleges--Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura--recently have improved on the competency levels required.

An overwhelming majority of Korean-Americans who lost businesses during last spring's civil unrest want to re-establish their stores, but nearly three-fourths also want to move their enterprises to another location, according to a new survey released Wednesday. The Korean American Inter-Agency Council, a coalition of nine community groups, surveyed 1,000 Korean-American riot victims. The group's findings are based on an analysis of 500 of the completed surveys.

Top Los Angeles school officials vowed to move quickly to bring sweeping change to the nation's second-largest school system, and, starting this week, Huntington Park High School is expected to become the laboratory for just how fast things can go. On Tuesday, the Board of Education is expected to approve a plan to replace at least half the school's staff by July — in about six weeks — the start of school for the year-round campus. The move arises primarily out of the frustration felt by school board member Yolie Flores over the pace of progress at her alma mater, located in an area she represents.

Thursday night, Steve Carell bids goodbye to Michael Scott and "The Office," in which character and series he has lived for seven seasons. Seven years is a long time -- statistically, the average American changes jobs almost twice that often -- and whether or not this is a wise move, it is a creatively understandable one. There have now been about 10 times as many episodes of the American version of "The Office" as there ever were of its British...

Chasing around Washington quarterback Jake Locker was on the minds of UCLA players this week. Locker, who is expected to start after being out two weeks with a broken rib, will play his last game in Husky Stadium on Thursday night. "He can hurt you in many ways," UCLA linebacker Akeem Ayers said. "He adds another dimension to their offense because of his speed. " Locker has run for more than 100 yards once this season. He has had two solid games against UCLA in his career.

Nearly 60% of English-language learners in California's high schools have failed to become proficient in English despite more than six years of a U.S. education, according to a study released Thursday. In a survey of 40 school districts, the study found that the majority of long-term English-language learners are U.S. natives who prefer English and are orally bilingual. But they develop major deficits in reading and writing, fail to achieve the academic English needed for educational success and disproportionately drop out of high school, according to the study by Californians Together, a coalition of 22 parent, professional and civil rights organizations.

What percentage of Georgia's fourth-graders are good readers? It seems to depend on whom you ask. The state will tell you that 85% met or exceeded the proficiency benchmark on its 2007 test. On the other hand, that year only 28% scored high enough to be considered proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, an exam administered by the U.S. Department of Education that is usually regarded as the gold standard. The big difference results from where the two tests set their proficiency bars.

In the airy computer lab at Romero-Cruz Elementary School in Santa Ana, 11-year-old Davis Nguyen quickly completed math problems. Each correct answer let an animated penguin named JiJi take steps across a bridge. The computer game looked simple, but backers say it is part of an innovative and powerful new way to teach math, and standardized test results released Tuesday appear to back up their claims. Across the state, schools saw a 4.5% increase in the number of elementary students scoring "proficient" or "advanced" in math.

Dan Nobuhiko Smiley is principal second violinist for the San Francisco Symphony. He laughs at his title: "Sounds like an oxymoron. How can you be a principal and second at the same time?" Not every concertgoer realizes that the sea of violins in a symphony orchestra consists of two distinct sections. Likewise, there are two violins in a string quartet. In both cases, the first violins generally "knock out the high melodies," as Smiley puts it, while the second violins handle the accompaniment.

Santa Barbara's Camerata Pacifica -- which also maintains outposts in Ventura, San Marino and downtown Los Angeles -- announced the final program of its 19th season with a fairly provocative news release. "Camerata Pacifica is not your parents' chamber ensemble," the copy breathlessly proclaimed, adding: "Akin to the Dixie Chicks, Il Divo and other genre-bending artists, Camerata Pacifica presents a new look and approach to a traditional music form." Well now. If you happened to be poking around the Colburn School's Zipper Hall Thursday night, the Camerata's presentation didn't look much different from the usual formal, serious chamber music routine.