April 4, 2006

Most local schools post steady API score gain

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

The continued progress of Campbell Union schools is reflected through their 2005 Academic Perfor-mance Index (API) scores, recently released by the California Department of Education.

Castlemont Elementary School: Although Castlemont Elementary School suffered a loss of 26 points, dropping from 804 in 2004, to 778 in 2005, they are striving to succeed.

The API, which includes information on schools’ base scores, growth targets and rankings, reflected academic gains throughout the state.

“The API is a powerful tool to hold our schools accountable for progress,” says State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, “and allow the public to compare individual schools with others statewide. I encourage parents, students, educators and the public to review the API ranking for schools in their community.”

Most of Campbell’s elementary, middle and high schools showed growth from 2004 to 2005, with Castlemont Elementary School showing the least, and Rolling Hills Middle School showing the most gain.

Elementary schools
Local elementary schools’ scores range from 662 to above 900, with only two schools scoring below 800, the state’s target score. However, several schools received lower 2005 API scores than their 2004 marks. Capri Ele-mentary School scored well with 832, but lost 22 points from its previous score. Castlemont Elemen-tary School turned in a score of 778, 26 points less than its 2004 base. Forest Hills Elementary School scored nicely with 841 points, but was eight points below its 2004 score.

On the rise, Marshall Lane Elementary School gained 3 points over last year’s numbers, scoring an impressive 905, the highest score in the district for an elementary school. Lastly, Rosemary Elementary School picked up 5 points, increasing its 2004 score of 657 to 662.

Village School, a parent participation elementary school, scored well with an API of 832 in 2005. However, as it did not have a valid 2004 API Base, according to the California Department of Education’s report, no growth or target information is available.

Middle schools
Campbell Middle School has a negligible loss of one point, going from 666 in 2004, to 665 in 2005. Monroe Middle Schools gained 13 points, increasing its score from 724 to 737.

However, it was Rolling Hills Middle School, which showed an impressive 26-point gain, going from 813 in 2004, to 839 in 2005.

At Rolling Hills Middle School, as well as other local schools, the rise in API scores can be credited to solid teaching as well as to benchmark testing, which allows teachers to see which concepts students understand, and which need to be reviewed.

High Schools
Del Mar High School scored 661 in 2005, which according to Principal Jim Russell was an increase of 63 points from their 2004 score of 598, the greatest growth in the district.

“We are thrilled with our growth,” he says, “and we’re going to continue what we’re doing. We have a lot of support classes to try to help kids gain skills.”

However, this growth was only briefly posted before being removed from the California Department of Education’s report, upon their belief that the school did not have a valid 2004 API Base. “We did not have an API score reported in 2004,” says Russell, “because we under-tested one subgroup in one test.” His target goal for this, or next year, is to reach the ‘700 Club.’

Rolling Hills Middle School: With an impressive gain of 26 points in 2006, Rolling Hills Middle School is sitting pretty with a 2005 API score of 839, reflecting the district’s greatest growth.

Westmont High School scored 725, a significant 21 point gain over last year’s 704. The 2005 API Statewide Ranks range from 2 to 10 for Campbell Union schools in the area, and hold Similar School Ranks ranging from 1 to 8 (See chart for details).

Some teachers consider the API highly sensitive in scoring each of its five categories. A student who scores 340, rather than the 350 it takes to be proficient, receives far less credit, while only two more correct answers would place him in the proficient category. This could make a big difference to the child’s as well as the school’s score.

Another challenge is motivating students to put their best effort into taking the API tests. “The concept of having an exam for kids that has no effect on their grade is ridiculous,” says Russell, “you can’t expect high school kids to take it seriously.”

The language barrier is another concern. “To give kids that don’t speak English the same tests that are given to kids that do,” he says, “and not expect that to be reflected in your scores is also ridiculous.” Russell is frustrated that parents and community members might unfairly infer from their API score of 661 that Del Mar is inferior to Leigh High School, which scored 773. “No one looks into the fact that a third of Del Mar’s population are English learners,” he says, “Therefore, a school like Del Mar could never have a score like Leigh’s.”

With a larger socioeconomic disadvantaged and English learners population, teachers at Del Mar have their work cut out for them. They need to cater to these students, while challenging those students who are succeeding. “It’s a balancing act,” admits Russell, “because particularly a school like Del Mar can’t afford to lose the students who are doing well.”

But Russell isn’t about to throw in the towel. His staff has been studying new teaching strategies to excite their students about learning, including research-based instruction.

With ‘workshop classes,’ students who struggle with a particular subject, like algebra, receive additional attention in a support class in that area.

“We have these things in place to build skills for those kids,” says Russell, “and it also targets the high school exit exam.” In using different strategies, the teachers try to address not only students’ language differences, but also their varied abilities and styles of learning.

Del Mar students are also being motivated to do their best on their API tests as a source of school pride and reputation. Sweetening the deal, students who took the test seriously were rewarded with an invitation to an ice cream social given by the PTA.

Putting API scores in perspective
Campbell Union Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Johanna VanderMolen is delighted with the progress of the district’s elementary and middle schools, but she looks at the big picture. “You have to take the annual API score in perspective,” she says. “A school’s API scores may go down one year, but if over time they’re increasing, that’s the important thing, and over time, without exception, all of our schools have improved.”

For instance, looking only at the 2004-2005 API score for Capri Elementary School, reveals a very different picture than an overview of the school’s success over six years. Capri recently took a loss of 22 points, going from 854 in 2004, to 832 in 2005, but gained more than twice that amount in six years.

Castlemont, which recently lost 26 API points, dropping from 804 in 2004, to 778 in 2005, actually shows great improvement compared with its score of 758 six years ago. “When you see it in perspective,” says VanderMolen, “you can see why I’m so proud of them.”

The Campbell Union Elementary District is working with its schools to align their curricula more with state standards, as well as focusing professional development around them. District wide, Campbell Union schools are implementing new testing systems to provide teachers with detailed data much faster, as well as offering teacher training and adopting innovative teaching tools.

They are also building up their teachers’ abilities by dedicating team time for teachers in the same grades to meet, plan and review data together. In addition, they are providing a summer institute with about 20 courses in which teachers will be paid to learn new techniques and content to engage their students, including reading techniques, algebra and technology-related classes.

The Campbell Union High Schools are following suit. “We have plans for benchmark testing,” says Terry Peluso, director of Student Services and Assessment. “We feel that it’s very important to provide teacher feedback during the school year, and we’re working on that.”

The district is also sympathetic to the frustration facing teachers regarding the API’s shifting guidelines. “I believe our teachers and students can hit any target chosen for them as long as it stands still,” he says, “but, the testing has become political and it’s difficult to adjust to the rules which keep changing. As things begin to settle down, the teachers begin to get a grasp of what’s expected of our students, and it allows them to sharpen the delivery of those goals.”

Peluso also realizes that teaching today is a whole new ballgame, which focuses upon the individual as well as the collective. “Our teachers need to have a new set of skills that will allow them to address various ability levels within the same class,” he says. “American teachers are used to teaching to the middle, but now they need to do several different things so that all students can succeed.”

Along this line, the Campbell Union High School District is offering a series of professional development courses as well as technology-assisted testing, which will deliver faster results to identify holes in a student’s education, providing a faster teacher response in focusing on these areas. “In this district, we’re constantly striving to present a more powerful and effective educational program,” he says.

Peluso believes that high school students take the High School Exit Exam a lot more seriously than they take the Star Test, on which they’re not graded. “The Exit Exam focuses on their English language arts and math skills,” he says, “and they realize if they don’t work on these areas, they may not graduate.”

“I believe the California High School Exit Exam has been a key driver of progress as our students concentrate on learning the standards,” says O’Connell. “We still have a long way to go to improve our high schools, but I applaud the rate of improvement and hope that we can increase the pace.”

VanderMolen realizes that teachers today are under pressure to provide top marks and hopes that the strain doesn’t cause them to give up this ‘most noble profession.’

“I feel very lucky to be working with the wonderful teachers we have here,” she says. “They really care for kids and make sure they move forward. They’re the heart and souls of these children, and they are appreciated, each and every day.”