Proficiency Tests

Francisco Menjivar has spent months memorizing answers to civics questions like, "Who wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner?' " (Francis Scott Key) and "How many voting members are in the House of Representatives?" (435). He knows answers to most of the 96 questions and isn't about to put that hard work to waste.

The burgeoning charter school movement in California has largely made its mark as an alternative to low-performing inner-city schools. An analysis being issued today suggests that, at their best, charters are doing that job well, outperforming most traditional public schools that serve children in poverty. Using the Academic Performance Index as a measuring tool, the California Charter Schools Assn.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge Friday blocked a controversial state plan requiring that all California eighth-graders be tested in algebra. The state's algebra mandate would have been the most ambitious in the nation. The state Board of Education approved the high-reaching goal in July as a way to push school districts into having all students enroll in algebra by the end of the eighth grade. State board president Ted Mitchell vowed to appeal the decision.

On a recent Sunday morning, a determined Spencer Cutrow spent three hours hunched over an admission exam designed to test his reading, math and reasoning skills, with its outcome likely to help determine how he will spend the rest of his academic career. But Spencer, 10, is anticipating middle school, not college.

More California high school students are taking Advanced Placement tests for college credit, but the state's black and Latino students are still underrepresented in AP classrooms, according to a report released Tuesday by the College Board. Of the 358,266 students in the state's class of 2006, 31% took at least one AP exam, up from 22% in 2000. Nationally, about 24% of students took an AP test in 2006, compared to about 16% in 2000.

On Saturdays, Chris Lopez makes about $100 selling tickets at a Glendale nightclub. It's good money for a 17-year-old, but after he graduates from Lincoln High School, Lopez wants to go to college and study law or criminal justice. There's one problem, though: He won't have time to finish the classes he needs to apply. Months before graduation, Lopez learned that he hasn't taken enough of the academic classes necessary to be admitted to a four-year state university.

Instead of late-night cramming and tutorials on how to ace multiple-choice tests, Joshua Koenig prepared for finals by rehearsing a PowerPoint presentation on the challenges of trading stock options and what he learned while attempting to climb Mt. Rainier with his father.

Two popular charter schools that faced immediate closure because of low test scores won a one-year reprieve Thursday from the Los Angeles Board of Education. Discovery Preparatory high school in Pacoima and Pacifica Community Charter, a kindergarten through eighth grade school in West Los Angeles, will use the time to make the case to local and state officials that their schools are getting better and are worthy of keeping open.

State officials Thursday announced the tentative settlement of a lawsuit over the mandatory high school exit exam that would provide two years of instruction beyond a student's senior year. The accord is part of a bill awaiting expected legislative approval. It provides $72 million but does not require school districts to participate. Exam critics say the test penalizes students who lack an equal opportunity to learn.

A Superior Court judge Monday approved a settlement in a lawsuit over California's mandatory high school exit exam. The settlement calls for school districts to offer two years of test-preparation instruction to students who did not graduate on time because they did not pass the exam. The accord is part of a bill awaiting legislative approval that would allow school districts to spend state funds on instruction for such students.