The number of English learners statewide reaching proficiency in an annual state test took another big jump, according to statistics released Thursday by education officials.

State results showed that 43 percent of the students who took the California English Language Development Test scored at the early advanced or advanced levels in 2003.

That is up from 34 percent in 2002 and 25 percent in 2001.

State Superintendent Jack O'Connell credited statewide reforms, especially standards-based instruction, which sets what students should know grade-by-grade in each subject and tests their progress toward achieving those goals.

In a teleconference call with reporters, O'Connell described the strides as remarkable.

"The scores on the English Language Development Test are another powerful indicator that holding all of our students to standards is working," he said.

The test was given to 1.4 million kindergarten through 12th-grade students whose primary language is not English. Testing took place July 1 through Oct. 31.

California has the nation's highest number of students whose primary language is not English. The test focuses on listening and speaking skills for kindergartners and first-graders and listening, speaking, reading and writing skills for the older students.

The test is the main tool for educators to measure English proficiency. English language learners take the test until they are reclassified as fluent.

In February, a report by the Legislative Analyst's Office said that a study of two years of the California English Language Development Test showed that fluency progress has been too slow.

The study revealed that it takes about six years before half of the students are reclassified as fluent.

However, Deb Sigman, director of standards and assessment for the Department of Education, said the legislative analyst had "what I would consider limited data to make those kinds of predictions."

The latest test results released Thursday indicated that in the Sacramento area, some districts performed above the statewide average, while others trailed.

That contrast was illustrated in the Grant Joint Union High School District and the Del Paso Heights School District.

Grant, a junior high school and high school system, scored well above the state average, with 63 percent in the early advanced and advanced categories.

Socorro Shiels, director of multicultural education and professional development, said Grant's students are benefiting from a focus on "standards embedded in curriculum" and from teacher training that targets English learners' needs.

However, Del Paso Heights School District results showed that 22 percent of English learners scored at early advanced or advanced in English proficiency.

Grant began managing the kindergarten-through-sixth-grade Del Paso Heights School District in September. Officials hope to replicate the Grant Joint Union progress.

"I think that we will, as a partner of Del Paso, help create the same type of focus," said Shiels. "We will use a similar model that fits the specific needs of Del Paso in terms of training teachers, having appropriate materials and meeting the language needs of students."

Sacramento City Unified School District results showed that 50 percent of the English learners scored at the early advanced or advanced levels.

Maria Lopez, Sacramento City Unified spokeswoman, said that the federal No Child Left Behind Act has prompted educators to push all students.

"It keeps it on the front burner that when they mean 'no child left behind' it means just that - no child left behind," said Lopez. "That is especially true in urban districts where there a lot of are newcomers to the English language."

Also, she said teachers are "getting smarter" about how to teach English.

Other district scores included 32 percent of English language learners at the early advanced or advanced levels of proficiency for North Sacramento Elementary, 47 percent for Rio Linda Elementary and 40 percent for San Juan Unified.