DATE: Friday, September 5, 1997             TAG: 9709040399

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Education 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE:                                   LENGTH:   71 lines

3 BEACH HIGH SCHOOLS BEST NATIONAL SAT SCORE AVERAGE SOME EDUCATORS SAY NUMBERS ARE INFLUENCED BY SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS.

Three Virginia Beach high schools - Cox, First Colonial and Kempsville - were the only public ones in South Hampton Roads to best this year's national average on SAT scores.

Among 26 public high schools in the region, Cox led the way, with a 1063 average out of a possible 1600 score. It was followed by First Colonial's 1036 and Kempsville's 1034. The national average was 1016; the state's was 1003.

SAT scores for this year's high school graduates were released last week by the College Board in New York.

The SAT numbers, like other test scores, are receiving closer scrutiny as parents and politicians attempt to measure student achievement. But some educators say the numbers are also heavily influenced by family income levels.

Virginia Beach, the most affluent city in the region, had six of the seven highest-ranking schools. And Cox and First Colonial serve some of the more well-to-do areas of the city - including Great Neck and Kings Grant.

Perry Pope, the principal at Cox, said: ``We believe that the SAT is more a measure of socioeconomics in the community than anything else, so obviously Cox is high. It is in an area where parents are predominantly professional. They expect students to go to school and study hard and have goals after they graduate.''

But Pope also noted efforts at the school to raise scores, including a college reading course to boost comprehension and after-hours SAT prep classes.

Cox and First Colonial exchanged places since last year's results.

In 1996, First Colonial ranked first with a 1067 average, but its score fell 31 points. That was the second-biggest drop in the region, behind Wilson High's 33-point loss in Portsmouth.

Wilson, which fell from 859 to 826, tied with two Norfolk schools - Norview and Booker T. Washington - for the region's lowest score this year.

Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake posted the biggest increase in the region. Its average went up 42 points, from 869 to 911.

Principal Jan Andrejco said she wasn't sure what triggered the rise. But she noted that Oscar Smith offered intensive SAT tutoring for athletes last year, and two SAT-prep classes were open to all students during the day.

Andrejco warned of the SAT scores: ``In terms of judging a school, I don't think it's a good judgment. I'd like to say if you have good teaching, you have high test scores, but you can have great teaching and low test scores.''

In Suffolk, Lakeland High suffered a big drop, - plummeting 28 points to 861. Principal William Hill said officials will analyze the numbers to figure out what went wrong.

``Certainly it is a red flag to us,'' Hill said. ``We're going to assess it and evaluate it and take appropriate steps and make changes. . . .

``We want our students to achieve and do their very best on tests in all areas of education.''

In Norfolk, only one school increased its score. Granby went up 27 points, from 893 to 920.

Cameron Harris, the state's assistant superintendent for assessment and reporting, said a school's score could also be affected by the number of students taking the test. The greater the percentage of a school's students taking the test, the greater the chance the average score will go down.

Yet Cox, the No. 1 SAT school, had the largest number of SAT takers in Virginia Beach - 346.

Said Pope, its principal: ``You have to decide what is your goal and your mission, and if it is to qualify as many students as possible to go to college, you want to encourage as many as possible to take the test.'' ILLUSTRATION: SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST RESULTS

VP GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

SOURCE: South Hampton Roads school districts KEYWORDS: TEST SCORES STANDARDIZED TESTS SAT RESULTS

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