Struggling Schools Showing API Gains Seventy Percent of County Schools Made Both of the State-Required Growth Targets
Posted on: Friday, 28 October 2005, 18:00 CDT
By T.S. Mills-Faraudo, STAFF WRITER
Many of San Mateo County's lowest-performing schools shined Thursday, when the California Department of Education released its annual Academic Performance Index growth report.
It showed that many of the county's struggling schools are jumping ahead on the API -- a gauge that measures how the state's public schools performed on standardized tests on a scale of 200 to 1,000, with 800 being the target.
Overall, 70 percent of county schools with API information posted Thursday made both of the state-required growth targets, up from 54 percent last year. Statewide, 68 percent of schools met their targets.
This means these schools tested enough students, and all students -- including those in significant subgroups -- showed gains on the standardized tests.
But Redwood City and San Mateo Union high schooldistricts did not have information posted for their schools because they were making data corrections.
Success stories
Sequoia Union High School District, which has consistently struggled with standardized tests in the past, showed huge gains at all of its schools.
Sequoia High School in Redwood City, for example, jumped a whopping 75 points from 599 to 674.
This is a major accomplishment for Sequoia, which is currently on the federal governments list of failing schools.
Sequoia Principal Morgan Marchbanks believes the school's new smaller learning communities have helped her students immensely on the standardized tests. The program, which includes ninth and 10th graders, allows teachers to work with students in smaller groups. It also lets teachers tailor the curriculum for each students' needs, as well as critique each other's teaching methods.
The school, Marchbanks said, is also teaching students different test-taking techniques and incorporating expository writing in all subjects.
"Sequoia made that growth due to good teaching," she said. "The demographics of our student population hasn't changed. It's not like we suddenly got more affluent students in the school. We still have a very diverse population."
Other schools in the county also showed major improvement.
One of the lowest-performing schools in the county, College Park School in San Mateo, climbed 47 points to 597.
While in East Palo Alto, Cesar Chavez Academy jumped 74 points to 613.
In South San Francisco, Martin Elementary increased by 68 points to 753.
Christine Baumgartner, director of assessment for the South San Francisco Unified District, credits Martin's rise to the district's emphasis on writing. This has really helped this particular school, she said, because it has a high number of students learning English.
Achievement gap
But the report didn't come with all good news.
Many low-income, Latino, African American and English-learning students continue to lag behind in the county and state.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said he is looking at requiring schools to show greater gains by low- performing student subgroups -- although such a demand would unlikely come with more resources.
Of the 133 schools in the county with reported growth information, 34 did not meet their subgroup target.
Many schools met their schoolwide target, but could not make their subgroup goal.
At Laurel Elementary School in San Mateo, for example, Asian and white students scored in the 800s to 900s on the API while Latino students dropped 47 points on the API to 694.
At El Camino High in South San Francisco, while Asian, Filipino and white students remained in the 700s to 800s, Latino students fell 25 points to 643.
Baumgartner said it can be difficult to get high school students, especially those in the 11th and 12th grades, to score high on the standardized tests because they're focusing more on the state exit exam or college entrance exams.
"If colleges started using these scores for anything, scores for high schools would probably improve," she said.
Staff writer Jill Tucker contributed to this story.
Staff writer T.S. Mills-Faraudo covers education. She can be reached at (650) 348-4338 or tmills@sanmateocountytimes.com.
Source: Oakland Tribune
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