More Local Schools Meet API Growth Targets

More Ventura County schools met their growth targets this year on a state index that measures academic progress--continuing to outperform their peers statewide--but fewer will receive cash rewards for their efforts.

Nearly 82% of schools in the county raised scores either as much or more than the state required on the Academic Performance Index, which is based on a standardized test given to students in second through 11th grades each spring.

That compares with 78% in the county last year and 57% of schools throughout California for 2001, according to a report released Monday by state education officials.

At the same time, only about 52% of local schools are eligible for tens of thousands of dollars in rewards this year, down from 69% last year. The difference comes from tougher reward requirements aimed at reducing the amount of money going to the highest-performing schools, said Pat McCabe, an administrator in the state’s office of policy and evaluation.

Ventura County Supt. of Schools Charles Weis said he was “very pleased” by the results, but expressed disappointment that fewer schools would get reward cash.

“It’s going to be very difficult for high-performing schools--you simply can’t move as fast if the top is close,” Weis said. “I think it’s unfortunate we’re not reinforcing high-performing schools the way we’re reinforcing low-performing ones.”

The index is measured on a scale of 200 to 1000, and the state’s goal for all schools is a score of 800. Each school in the state is assigned a growth goal; meeting it can mean monetary rewards, while falling short can mean sanctions.

About 28% of the county’s schools are now ranked at 800 or above. Of those, 85% are elementary schools, and all but a few are in affluent communities, such as Thousand Oaks and Oak Park in the east county, and Camarillo.

However, as in years past, the schools posting the strongest gains on the API were in the county’s poorest areas with the highest numbers of children still struggling to speak English.

One particularly bright spot was rural Fillmore Unified, which saw large increases at all campuses, including Fillmore High School--one of only four high schools in the county to meet targets on this year’s API. The other three schools were Oak Park High, Santa Susana High in Simi Valley and Newbury Park High in Thousand Oaks.

Fillmore High’s score jumped by 51 points, and over the past two years its API has climbed from 493 to 557.

“It means a lot,” said Supt. Mario Contini. “The high school really took it very seriously and started working very hard to raise expectations. The students have also made a tremendous shift in attitudes.”

The news was not so good at Oxnard High School, which fell short of its growth target for the third year in a row.

The results for Camarillo, Channel Islands, Rio Mesa and Hueneme high schools were not released Monday because of a technicality that apparently excluded ninth-graders from the scores.

Gary Davis, superintendent of the Oxnard High School District, said he believes that when the state releases updated scores in December, only Camarillo and Hueneme will meet the state’s target. The other three will sign up for state intervention funding in an effort to turn things around, he said.

“We feel we need some additional help,” Davis said. “It’s disappointing to me and the schools, because we did work very hard.”

Driffill Elementary Gained 103 Points

Last year, 10 schools in the county participated in the intervention program, which provided $50,000 each to boost scores. Of those, all but one met their targets this year, Weis said.

One dramatic case was Driffill Elementary in Oxnard, which posted an API gain of 103 points--the biggest hike of any school in the county. The state program helped the school identify obstacles and create solutions, said Principal Garry Galvan.

“It made a huge difference,” he said. “Now the trick will be sustaining that growth.”

And the cash rewards the school will get, in addition to the extra funding from the intervention program, are a big incentive, Galvan said.

But substantially fewer schools statewide--from 67% last year to 48% this year--will be able to take advantage of such rewards.

Not Everyone Happy About Stiffer Standards

Last year, schools with API scores at 800 or above had to gain at least one additional point overall and maintain a score of at least 800 among certain subgroups of students, including Latino children and those considered low-income. This year, the schools were required to gain five points overall and at least four points in each subgroup.

State officials said schools that were already doing well got a disproportionate amount of reward money the first year. Those that lost out this year will have to focus more energy on their poorest-performing subgroups, officials argued.

Still, the stiffer standards did not sit well with some Ventura County schools that were anticipating awards.

At Sequoia Middle School in Thousand Oaks, for example, the school boosted its overall score by seven points and increased the average score among Latinos by 34 points, but fell short by one point each among two other subgroups.

“I feel betrayed,” said Principal Mike Berger. “We met all of the goals initially given, and then, after everything was done, they changed the rules.”

The school would have received up to $70,000 in reward money this school year, he said.

“I guess we’re balancing the budget for the state,” Berger said, “and we just made a $70,000 contribution.”