Mar 28, 2007

Mixed reviews on area schools

Local grades run gamut in state's new rankings

By Will Oremus Daily News Staff Writer

A new round of statewide public school rankings released Tuesday shows some area schools surging ahead in their Academic Performance Index scores while others are mired or have lost ground.

Schools received two rankings: one comparing their most recent API scores to statewide averages and a second comparing them only to schools considered similar in demographics. They also received targets for improvement on the round of statewide standardized tests their students will undergo this spring.

Those growth targets are important because schools and districts that fail to meet them in consecutive years are subject to sanctions and interventions. As for the annual rankings, they can be a powerful evaluation tool for officials and parents, but experts caution that they only show part of the picture of a school's academic performance.

California turns the spotlight on the API twice each school year. In the fall, it releases new score results, and in the spring it provides the rankings and targets for improvement in the coming year. The lower a school scores, the more improvement it is expected to show.

For some districts on the Peninsula, the twice-annual hoopla is little more than a reminder of how brilliantly their students are performing. The tiny Hillsborough City Elementary School District chalked up one of the highest average API scores of any district in the state, with a 959 out of a possible 1,000 points. And in the much larger Palo Alto Unified School District, 16 out of 17 eligible campuses received a ranking of 10 on an overall scale of 1 to 10, when compared to all schools in the state.

In those districts, the mantra is "continuous improvement." Superintendent Mary Frances Callan said the Palo Alto Unified School District appreciates the recognition but also digs deep into the statistics to identify subgroups of its student population that are lagging behind. It then focuses on closing that "achievement gap" by devoting special attention and extra resources to those groups.

But for other districts, continuous improvement is a tough battle. Since the API scores are based largely on standardized test results in math, reading, and now science, schools that have a large proportion of non-native English speakers are hard-pressed to meet state and federal standards.

The state benchmark for proficiency on the API, a score of 800, remains an elusive goal for many, including several in the less affluent Ravenswood and Redwood City elementary school districts. Green Oaks Elementary in East Palo Alto posted a score of 588, giving it a rock-bottom ranking of 1 out of 10 statewide. Fair Oaks Elementary in Redwood City scored 643, also earning a 1 out of 10 ranking.

But a look beyond the raw figures reveals a more encouraging picture. Green Oaks' scores jumped more than 100 points from the previous year, and Fair Oaks' scores crept up 25 points. And Fair Oaks gets a more palatable 4 out of 10 in the ranking that compares it to other schools with similar resources and student bodies.

In fact, while fewer than half of Redwood City's schools scored above the statewide median, an impressive majority scored 7 or better out of 10 on the "similar schools" ranking. "We're very excited to see we've had just some tremendous growth in terms of how our schools rank in relation to other similar schools across the state," said Superintendent Jan Christensen after seeing the new numbers.

API scores statewide have been on an upward trend in recent years, meaning that a given school's performance has to keep improving just for it to hold its ground in the rankings, said state schools chief Jack O'Connell. A 655 out of 1,000 on the API in 1999 would have placed a school above the state median, with a ranking of 6 out of 10. Today, the same score of 655 would translate to a ranking of 1.

Asked if the statewide gains are the result of "score inflation," with teachers simply getting better at preparing kids specifically for the state's Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) tests, O'Connell demurred. If the test accurately reflects a solid set of statewide standards, he said, then "teaching to the test" means teaching kids what they need to know.


E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@dailynewsgroup.com.


MAKING THE GRADE

Some Peninsula districts routinely record average API scores above the state's proficiency benchmark of 800. Others, whose students often face obstacles such as poverty and limited English-language skills, have been given targets for improvement on standardized tests this spring.

A look at area districts' average API base scores, which can range from 200 to 1,000:

Elementary/Middle School Districts:

Belmont-Redwood Shores 873

Burlingame 874

Cabrillo Unified *767

Hillsborough City 959

Las Lomitas 956

Los Altos 960

Menlo Park City 916

Millbrae 834

Mountain View-Whisman 778

Palo Alto Unified *912

Portola Valley 940

Ravenswood City 637

Redwood City 754

San Bruno Park 767

San Carlos 873

San Mateo-Foster City 801

Sunnyvale 781

Woodside 949

High School Districts:

Cabrillo Unified *767

Mountain View-Los Altos Union 809

Palo Alto Unified *912

San Mateo Union 774

Sequoia Union 742

*Palo Alto and Cabrillo unified school districts are K-12.

For complete score information, visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/api.

Source: California Department of Education