Test Score Prizes Can’t Reward All

About 300 low-ranked schools that showed extraordinary gains in Stanford 9 scores will divvy up a $100-million state pot to reward teachers and principals, according to a list released Thursday by the California Department of Education.

Because so many schools did well and the pot of money is fixed, those top 300 schools represent less than one-quarter of the 1,346 schools statewide that met the criteria. And the fact that individuals rather than schools are being rewarded has generated consternation among critics of the governor’s award program.

In Orange County, only nine of 85 eligible schools are likely to be getting the prizes.

“I’m happy for those that got the money,” said Santa Ana Supt. Al Mijares, where 17 schools were eligible but not a single teacher is likely to be receiving money. “I just wish our teachers could be rewarded in this matter. . . . I hope more resources are allocated in the future.”

Barring unforeseen delays, the bonuses will be doled out by early May to teachers, principals, counselors, librarians and other credentialed school employees in chunks of $25,000, $10,000 and $5,000. Even teachers with emergency credentials will be eligible.

State officials cautioned, however, that a legal challenge filed by some Sacramento educators could delay or derail the awards program.

For teachers, the hefty bonuses represent by far the most controversial element of Gov. Gray Davis’ push to hold schools, educators and students accountable for achievement.

Many educators, even some who expect to pocket money, say such rewards divide education professionals at a time when they should be teaming up to lift student achievement.

“It’s bounty money,” said Charlotte Mary Lerchenmuller, principal of Emerson Middle School in Westwood. “Awards should go to schools, not individuals.”

Eighteen schools in the Garden Grove Unified School District qualified for rewards, but but probably not enough to reap reward money. Administrators said they are not bitter because they viewed the notion of giving huge checks to teachers as unfair from the beginning.

“We don’t view this is as a major tragedy,” said Al Sims, Garden Grove’s head of testing. “Quite frankly, we see this whole thing as kind of inequitable.”

Teachers and administrators at Heideman Elementary in the Tustin Unified School District just missed receiving the money.

At first, Principal Charles Williams thought his staff had made the cutoff. But he said he was resigned to the disappointment.

“You know how life is; you take the good with the bad,” he said. “This was all extra money anyway.”

Others reacted with glee to the news that, in their notoriously low-paying profession, they might have a few thousand dollars more to spend on summer vacation or their children’s college tuition.

To be eligible for awards, schools ranking in the bottom half of the state’s performance index had to have demonstrated improved scores for two years on the Stanford 9, a standardized basic skills test.

In addition, the schools were required to double a growth target on their 2000 Stanford 9 scores.

Under the program, 1,000 educators statewide will receive bonuses of $25,000; 3,750 are to get $10,000 each, and 7,500 are in line for $5,000 awards.

Of 1,185 elementary schools that qualified, only the top 210 are likely to receive money for credentialed staff members. Among 129 middle schools that met the criteria, 57 probably will receive bonuses. All 32 high schools that qualified apparently will be in the money.

Among Los Angeles Unified schools, 14 at the elementary level, two middle schools and three high schools appear certain to get award money. Throughout Los Angeles County, 48 elementary, nine middle and eight high schools stand to get checks.

The state said it could not yet set the ranking cutoffs for awards because some schools that were eliminated from the running for one reason or other are appealing to the state Board of Education. The state is also continuing to scrutinize data to ensure that schools’ staff counts are accurate.

Despite the uncertainty, some schools reveled in the prospect of big cash awards.

“This is like whipped cream on the ice cream,” said Jack Hay, principal of Gilbert Elementary School in Buena Park, which posted Orange County’s greatest growth and ranked 16th in California. “If someone is going to give me $25,000, you bet I’ll put it to good use. . . . I’ve got two kids in college.”

Gilbert’s API score jumped 138 points last year. Hay credited several factors, including after-school reading programs and higher expectations for students.

Hay added that while the cash is nice, the satisfaction of seeing students achieve is far greater.

“You don’t go into education because you want to make a lot of money,” he said. “You go into it because of needs and concerns you have for kids.”

One of the state’s extraordinary successes was in tiny Ceres Unified School District near Modesto, where six of seven elementary schools as well as a middle school and a high school are likely to receive teacher awards.

Supt. Beatrice Lingenfelter credited state grants, involvement of parents and staff training, among other things.

Bandini Elementary in the City of Commerce appeared to be a shoo-in for the largest individual awards of $25,000. While Principal Anna Chavez welcomed the money, she said her teachers were holding back their excitement because of the Sacramento lawsuit.

Educators there challenged a rule passed by the state Board of Education that schools had to demonstrate improvement on the Stanford 9 in 1999 as well as 2000.

“I think we’ll believe it when somebody is handing us our checks,” Chavez said.

Among elementary schools statewide, the top-ranked was Lincoln Elementary in the small Central Valley community of Exeter, near Visalia. The 577-pupil school serves only kindergarten through second grade, and only the second-graders were required to take the Stanford 9, which is given in grades two through 11 statewide.

“We have only one grade level to rise and fall on,” said Principal Miriam Smith. She and the school’s 36 other full-time teachers and administrators will get $25,000 each.

The $100-million award pot is one of three incentive programs backed by Gov. Davis. A $227-million pool is being divided on a per-pupil basis among all schools that met their growth targets. A separate $350-million program will provide bonuses of a few hundred dollars to each employee at schools that qualify, with an equal amount going to the school.

For a list of schools eligible to apply for the rewards, see https://www.cde.ca.gov/psaa/awards.

Times education writer Doug Smith and staff writers Thuy-Doan Le in the San Fernando Valley, Jessica Garrison in Orange County and Katie Cooper in Ventura contributed to this story. Richard O’Reilly, Times director of computer analysis, also contributed.

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Rewarding Results

State education officials released a list of Orange County schools likely to receive monetary awards based on Academic Performance Index scores.

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Rank School District Score Increase ELEMENTARY 16 Gilbert Buena Park 138 88 Sonora Newport-Mesa Unified 90 108 Lambert Tustin Unified 102 115 Pendleton Buena Park 91 116 Hansen Savanna 87 127 Webber Westminster 127 188 Schmitt Westminster 78 210 70 O.C. schools were below cutoff rank MIDDLE SCHOOL 22 Buena Park Buena Park 57 57 6 O.C. schools were below this cutoff rank HIGH SCHOOL 5 Westminster Huntington Beach Union 57 32 No O.C. schools below this cutoff rank

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Source: California Department of Education