SAT scores up in the San Ramon Valley

Scores are generally trending up for students at area high schools taking the SATs, formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, according to state figures.

In 2010, the last year for which numbers are available, five of the eight local high schools showed improvement over 2009.

The percentage of San Ramon Valley High School scores over 1500 — a state benchmark — climbed by more than 10 percent, from 76.47 to 86.98 percent. California High School jumped about 3 percent, from 71.69 to 74.70 percent, while Amador Valley High in Pleasanton went up nearly as much, from 76.60 to 79.38 percent.

Other schools with slight improvements were Granada High in Livermore, up about 1 percent from 69.12 to 70.25 percent, and Dublin High, with an increase of .26 percent from 61.64 percent of students with a score of 1500 or greater to 61.90 percent.

Of the three schools with lower scores, Livermore High School showed the steepest lost, dropping almost 4 percent from 69.01 percent in 2009 to 65.13 last year. Monte Vista High School in the San Ramon Valley district also dropped, although by less than 1 percent, from 86.16 to 85.54; Foothill High also dropped by .05 percent, from 80.61 to 80.56 percent.

Nearly 79 percent of students at Dougherty Valley High scored above 1500 in 2010, the first year seniors took the SATs.

Although most districts offer home schooling on a formal or informal basis, only one, Venture Alternative School, in the San Ramon District, had students that passed the state benchmark score, with 71.43 percent of seniors at Venture scoring 1500 or greater.

None of the continuation high schools had a significant number of seniors who scored 1500 or higher.

The 2010 scores were released by the state earlier this month.