API Scores Find County Schools Met State Targets

Ventura County students again displayed their academic strength by besting their peers throughout California, this time on a statewide index designed to measure student progress.

Seventy-eight percent of schools countywide met their growth targets on the Academic Performance Index, compared with 71% throughout the state, according to results released Wednesday by the California Department of Education.

Nearly as many--69% of local campuses--are eligible for thousands of dollars in awards. To qualify, students schoolwide including low-income and Latino students, had to improve on the Stanford 9 exam, and the campuses had to test a high percentage of students--95% in elementary and middle schools and 90% in high schools.

Several of the campuses that posted the strongest gains on the performance index, measured on a scale of 200 to 1,000, were those with large numbers of poor students and students who speak limited English.

“Those schools started relatively low, but they are showing significant progress,” said Ventura County Supt. of Schools Chuck Weis. “This definitely will close the gap.”

In Fillmore, for example, Piru Elementary School jumped 88 points to an API score of 630 and San Cayetano Elementary School improved 86 points to 601. “The challenge was monumental, and the achievement was monumental,” said Fillmore Supt. Mario Contini, who said he is pushing every school in his district to reach 800 by the year 2003.

The highest API scores are still found among affluent districts such as Oak Park and Conejo Valley, where most schools were above 800--the performance target set by the state based on overall test scores. All but a few of the schools in these two districts also improved, but not as dramatically.

The Academic Performance Index is the critical component of Gov. Gray Davis’ push to hold teachers and principals accountable for student success or failure. State officials will use these scores to dole out millions of dollars of awards, principals will use them to pinpoint areas for further improvement and parents will compare them to decide where to send their children to school. In January, California schools were given their first API scores, based on 1999 results, and a target for growth. They were also ranked statewide and against schools with similar socioeconomic characteristics. The second year of rankings is scheduled to be released in January.

On the 1999 API, 18% of Ventura County schools reached the state target of 800. On the 2000 API, 25% of local schools met that target. With financial awards as incentives, school officials have been pushing to bring their campuses up to that mark. They have aligned their curriculum to the new state standards, provided additional training for teachers, emphasized test-taking strategies and started after-school intervention programs.

“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you will keep getting the same results,” said Denise Vale, principal of Mountain View Elementary School in Simi Valley, which raised its API 117 points. “We had to do something different.”

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Mountain View is one of 111 Ventura County campuses eligible for the cash awards, which will be distributed early next year. The largest awards are $25,000 each for teachers, principals and other administrators at campuses in the bottom half of the state ranking where students had the greatest gains. More of the campuses will receive the Governor’s Performance Award, projected at about $68 per student.

Santa Paula Elementary School District Supt. Bonnie Bruington said the incentive funds were not a driving factor, but will be much-appreciated rewards. “We never have enough money to do the things we want to do,” she said. “So any time we can find extra dollars, we’ll go for it.”

The greatest performance increases were among the younger students--both in Ventura County and throughout the state. Of the local campuses that met their targets, 73% were elementary schools, 16% were middle schools, and 11% were high schools. The two campuses that improved the most were Mar Vista Elementary in Oxnard, which raised its score 162 points to 670, and McKevett Elementary in Santa Paula, which jumped 124 points to 582.

Thirty-five local campuses did not meet their targets, and 18 saw decreases in their API scores. In Thousand Oaks, Los Cerritos Middle School dropped 24 points to 781, and Redwood Intermediate dipped 20 points to 826.

“These schools have made commitments to double their efforts,” said Conejo Valley Supt. Jerry Gross. “It’s just a matter of tightening the belt and going after the scores a little harder.”

Gross compared the classroom to an emergency room, where doctors continually check patients’ vital signs. “If the patient needs intervention, you intervene,” he said. “It’s much like what the teachers are doing with the students.”

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Conejo Council PTA President Patti Yomantas said the already high API scores in the district are a source of pride. “The bar is set higher every year,” she said. “To have exceeded that with the majority of our schools is really exciting.”

Yomantas, who has two children in the Conejo schools, said she moved to the area because of the strong reputation of the district. Now that standardized test scores and API results are made public, more parents will be judging a neighborhood’s schools before they move into a community.

The API reports are posted on the California Department of Education’s Web site: https://api.cde.ca.gov. The API is not listed for a few local schools, including Flory Elementary in Moorpark and Mesa Union Elementary in Somis, because of errors in the reporting of demographic data.

Some parents, teachers and administrators criticize the state for placing undue emphasis on the Stanford 9 exam. Though it was designed to include other data, including the high school exit exam and graduation and attendance rates, the API currently relies solely on the test results.

“There is an awful lot of pressure put on the teachers and the students to get test scores up,” said Christy McClain, who has four children in Santa Paula schools. “They have everybody stressed out.”

Students at Thousand Oaks High School learned about the API results and the financial awards when Principal Jo-Ann Yoos interrupted Wednesday’s fifth period with the special announcement over the school’s intercom. “Everybody was smiling,” said senior Cody Munson. “Nobody told us the test was for money.”

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The 20 schools that did not meet their targets and are in the bottom half of the API can still apply for state money and assistance. Outside evaluators will work with the selected schools for three years to boost achievement. If the students improve, the schools could receive additional cash bonuses. If they don’t, they could face state sanctions, such as mandatory staff reassignments or state takeovers.

In the Oxnard Elementary School District, where half of the schools met their targets and half did not, a few campuses are planning to apply for the state help.

“We are not where we want to be, but we are getting there,” said Oxnard Elementary Supt. Richard Duarte. “The growth is slow but steady.”

None of the five high schools in the Oxnard Union High School District met its target, and none plans to apply for help from the state. Hueneme High dropped 12 points to 478, and Oxnard High School dropped 21 points to 587. Oxnard High Principal Jim Nielsen said the school will reevaluate its curriculum, train staff to emphasize state standards and continue recruiting students for additional tutoring.

“This is obviously a disappointment for Oxnard High School,” he said. “But we have a philosophy of not making excuses--so we have to put the frustrations aside and say we are up to the challenge.”

How to Read These Tables * Find the school district. Districts are listed in alphabetical order.

* Search for the individual school. Schools within a district are listed in alphabetical order by level, with elementary schools first.

* For each school, the table first lists the 2000 API score, on a scale of 200 to 1,000.

* Next comes the school’s growth target. That is the number of points the index must have risen for the school to qualify for rewards. (Asterisk indicates no target set because API was 800 or higher in 1999. Those schools had to improve their score by only one point.)

* The third column is the number of points that the school’s score rose or declined. If the school met or exceeded its schoolwide target, that number is in boldface.

* The next column indicates with a Y for yes or an N for no whether the school met its growth targets for significant subgroups. Those include students from low-income families and students from various ethnic groups.

* Next comes the percentage of students tested. To qualify for awards, elementary and middle schools must have tested 95% or more of eligible students. High schools must have tested at least 90% of eligible students.

* Finally, a Y or an N indicates whether a school qualifies for the state’s reward program. If a school meets its overall growth target, but fails to hit its targets for subgroups or participation rate, it is not eligible for rewards.

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How the Data Were Computed

State officials took each school’s Stanford 9 scores from last spring and used a seven-step formula to obtain a score between 200 and 1,000. The national percentile rank for each student tested was used to make the calculation. The percentages of students scoring within each of five percentile rank performance levels (called performance bands) were weighted and combined to produce a summary level of each content area.

Summary results for content areas were weighted and combined to produce a single number. Reflecting the state’s emphasis on literacy, language skills carried extra weight in the early grades.

In grades 2 through 8, content areas were weighted as follows: mathematics, 40%; reading, 30%; language, 15%; spelling, 15%. In grades 9 through 11, mathematics, reading, language, history-social science and science each carried a weight of 20%.

To satisfy the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999, officials have set a statewide API performance target of 800 out of 1,000. The annual growth target for a school is 5% of the range between a school’s API and 800. For example, a school with a 1999 API of 500 is 300 points below the statewide target; 5% of 300 is 15 points, so that school’s goal for the 2000 API would be 515.

To qualify for rewards, the school must also show significant improvement in the scores of each sizable subgroup. For example, the scores of Latino students, if they represented a significant subgroup in 1999 and 2000, would have to rise by 80% of the growth target. The same would be true of economically disadvantaged students.

Of the state’s 8,000 schools, about 7,000 will be ranked in the API. Among schools not included were those with fewer than 100 students and alternative schools. Scores of students who had been in a district for less than a year were not counted. Scores for English learners who were in the district for less than a year also were not counted.

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ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE INDEXBT School 2000 Tgt Grwth Sub Pct Awds API Grps Tested Briggs Elementary Briggs Elementary 601 13 56 Y 97 Y Conejo Valley Unified Acacia Elementary 807 1 21 Y 100 Y Aspen Elementary 864 * 27 Y 100 Y Banyan Elementary 866 * 34 Y 99 Y Conejo Elementary 642 12 82 Y 99 Y Cypress Elementary 832 * 30 Y 100 Y Glenwood Elementary 737 3 6 Y 100 Y Ladera Elementary 833 2 64 Y 100 Y Lang Ranch 906 * 35 Y 99 Y Madrona Elementary 889 * 28 Y 99 Y Manzanita Elementary 628 9 1 N 100 N Maple Elementary 884 * 23 Y 100 Y Meadows Elementary 876 * 34 Y 100 Y Park Oaks Elementary 667 10 76 Y 100 Y University Elementary 824 1 35 Y 100 Y Walnut Elementary 764 5 59 Y 100 Y Weathersfield Elementary 871 * 17 Y 100 Y Westlake Elementary 879 * 18 Y 100 Y Westlake Hills Elementary 894 * 9 Y 99 Y Wildwood Elementary 848 * 32 Y 100 Y Colina Intermediate 851 * 44 Y 100 Y Los Cerritos Middle 781 * -24 N 100 N Redwood Intermediate 826 * -20 Y 99 N Sequoia Intermediate 814 * 14 N 99 N Newbury Park High 783 3 39 Y 98 Y Thousand Oaks High 785 2 18 Y 99 Y Westlake High 801 1 4 Y 99 Y Fillmore Unified Piru Elementary 630 13 88 Y 100 Y San Cayetano Elementary 601 14 86 Y 99 Y Sespe Elementary 599 14 72 Y 99 Y Fillmore Middle 568 15 61 Y 98 Y Fillmore Senior High 506 15 13 N 97 N Hueneme Elementary Bard Elementary 617 13 70 Y 100 Y Hathaway Elementary 567 13 36 Y 100 Y Haycox Elementary 469 19 50 Y 100 Y Hollywood Beach Elementary 811 1 29 Y 100 Y Hueneme Elementary 648 9 27 Y 99 Y Larsen Elementary 521 15 21 Y 99 Y Parkview Elementary 666 12 104 Y 97 Y Sunkist Elementary 650 13 107 Y 100 Y Williams Elementary 642 10 39 Y 98 Y Blackstock Junior High 600 10 8 N 100 N Green Junior High 640 9 11 N 100 N Mesa Union Elementary Mesa Elementary N N Moorpark Unified Arroyo West Elementary 809 1 32 Y 100 Y Campus Canyon Elementary 752 7 88 Y 100 Y Flory Elementary N N Mountain Meadows Elementary 755 2 0 N 100 N Peach Hill Elementary 655 11 66 Y 100 Y Walnut Canyon Elementary 720 7 61 Y 100 Y Chaparral Middle 802 2 44 Y 100 Y Mesa Verde Middle 726 6 49 Y 100 Y Moorpark High 724 5 17 Y 99 Y Oak Park Unified Brookside Elementary 887 * 32 Y N/A N Oak Hills Elementary 879 * 43 Y N/A N Red Oak Elementary 863 * 32 Y N/A N Medea Creek Middle 867 * 19 Y N/A N Oak Park High 834 * -12 Y N/A N Ocean View Elementary Laguna Vista Elementary 663 9 44 Y 100 Y Mar Vista Elementary 670 15 162 Y 100 Y Tierra Vista Elementary 645 10 44 Y 100 Y Ocean View Jr High 594 11 14 N 100 N Ojai Unified Meiners Oaks Elementary 721 6 43 Y 99 Y Mira Monte Elementary 760 4 39 Y 100 Y San Antonio Elementary N N Topa Topa Elementary 778 3 42 Y 97 Y Matilija Junior High 751 3 3 Y 100 Y Nordhoff High 745 4 21 Y 100 Y Oxnard Elementary Brekke Elementary 468 18 27 Y 62 N Chavez Elementary 407 21 20 Y 69 N Curren Elementary 538 14 13 N 75 N Driffill Elementary 485 15 -10 N 73 N Harrington Elementary 544 15 51 Y 74 N Kamala Elementary 450 17 -6 N 71 N Lemonwood Elementary 636 12 67 Y 74 N Marina West Elementary 560 13 25 Y 86 N McAuliffe Elementary 620 10 10 N 88 N McKinna Elementary 543 15 51 Y 81 N Ritchen Elementary 669 7 13 Y 97 Y Rose Avenue Elementary 633 9 22 Y 83 N Sierra Linda Elementary 559 12 4 N 78 N Frank Intermediate 503 15 -6 N 94 N Fremont Intermediate 608 9 -10 N 97 N Haydock Intermediate 547 15 47 Y 98 Y Oxnard Union High Camarillo High 721 4 -3 N 96 N Channel Islands High 553 13 14 N 95 N Hueneme High 478 16 -12 N 97 N Oxnard High 587 10 -21 N 95 N Rio Mesa High 593 12 32 N 95 N Pleasant Valley Elem Bedford Open Elementary 881 * 42 Y 99 Y Camarillo Heights Elementary 813 1 28 Y 99 Y Dos Caminos Elementary 763 2 1 N 97 N El Descanso Elementary 648 7 -9 N 100 N El Rancho Structured Elementary 639 10 40 N 100 N Las Colinas Elementary 843 * 14 Y 100 Y Las Posas Elementary 777 4 57 Y 100 Y Los Nogales Elementary 744 5 34 Y 100 Y Los Primeros Structured Elementary 848 * 14 Y 100 Y Santa Rosa Elementary 802 * -7 Y 100 N Tierra Linda Elementary 836 1 54 Y 100 Y Valle Lindo Elementary 741 5 33 Y 100 Y Los Altos Intermediate 774 3 35 Y 97 Y Monte Vista Intermediate 794 1 16 Y 100 Y Rio Elementary El Rio Elementary 668 11 79 Y 100 Y Rio Lindo Elementary 650 11 60 Y 100 Y Rio Plaza Elementary 490 16 4 N 100 N Rio Real Elementary 491 17 39 Y 100 Y Rio del Valle Elementary 542 13 6 N 100 N Santa Paula Elementary Bedell Elementary 668 11 93 Y 99 Y Blanchard Elementary 606 15 111 Y 98 Y Glen City Elementary 551 15 48 Y 100 Y McKevett Elementary 582 17 124 Y 94 N Thille Elementary 567 16 83 Y 97 Y Webster Elementary 483 19 58 Y 100 Y Isbell Middle 586 13 44 Y 97 Y Santa Paula Union High Santa Paula High 541 14 17 Y 98 Y Simi Valley Unified Atherwood Elementary 805 1 25 Y 100 Y Berylwood Elementary 641 9 25 Y 100 Y Big Springs Elementary 814 1 15 Y 100 Y Crestview Elementary 666 7 -4 N 100 N Garden Grove Elementary 738 5 30 Y 100 Y Hollow Hills Elementary 870 * -3 Y 99 N Justin Elementary 689 7 37 Y 100 Y Katherine Elementary 750 4 20 Y 100 Y Knolls Elementary 705 6 19 Y 99 Y Lincoln Elementary 651 9 36 Y 100 Y Madera Elementary 772 3 27 Y 100 Y Mountain View Elementary 726 10 117 Y 100 Y Park View Elementary 636 7 -17 N 100 N Santa Susana Elementary 714 6 42 Y 100 Y Simi Elementary 785 1 -11 Y 100 N Sycamore Elementary 711 7 44 Y 100 Y Township Elementary 778 1 -9 N 99 N Vista Elementary 865 * 22 Y 100 Y White Oak Elementary 769 2 11 Y 100 Y Wood Ranch Elementary 852 * 41 Y 100 Y Hillside Middle 728 5 24 Y 99 Y Sinaloa Middle 735 5 26 Y 99 Y Valley View Middle 782 2 24 Y 99 Y Royal High 724 7 54 Y 98 Y Santa Susana High 710 5 4 N 99 N Simi Valley High 734 2 -17 N 98 N Somis Union Elementary Somis Elementary N N Ventura Unified Blanche Reynolds Elementary 696 8 52 Y 100 Y Elmhurst Elementary 720 6 41 Y 100 Y Foster Elementary 617 9 3 N 98 N Juanamaria Elementary 730 6 56 Y 99 Y Lincoln Elementary 737 8 89 Y 99 Y Loma Vista Elementary 813 1 29 Y 99 Y Montalvo Elementary 677 8 34 Y 99 Y Mound Elementary 871 * 24 Y 100 Y Pierpont Elementary 840 3 91 Y 100 Y Poinsettia Elementary 836 * 11 Y 98 Y Portola Elementary 744 5 52 Y 100 Y Saticoy Elementary 672 7 19 N 99 N Serra Elementary 739 4 25 Y 99 Y Sheridan Way Elementary 489 17 38 Y 100 Y Will Rogers Elementary 636 11 48 Y 100 Y Sunset Elementary 691 6 10 N 99 N Anacapa Middle 752 3 11 Y 99 Y Balboa Middle 740 4 17 Y 99 Y Cabrillo Middle 773 3 41 Y 99 Y De Anza Middle 574 13 29 Y 99 Y Buena High 724 6 48 Y 99 Y Ventura High 683 7 32 Y 91 Y

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Times staff correspondent Katie Cooper contributed to this story.

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Statewide trends charted. A1