California Reports 31 County Schools ‘Underperforming’

About one in six of Ventura County’s 197 public schools have been flagged by the state as underperforming, officials said last week.

The 31 schools are about half as many as were identified in 1999, when the state launched a package of reforms meant to improve student test scores. But it’s also 50% more than the number of local underperforming schools identified last year.

County schools Supt. Charles Weis said he was disappointed. Administrators won’t understand the precise reasons for inclusion on the list, or how best to target their efforts, he said, until each school’s Academic Performance Index results are released next month.

The API score, ranging from 200 to 1,000, is linked to school results on the Stanford 9 exam. Test results are plugged into a formula that gives greater weight to language skills in earlier grades.

Schools flagged as underperforming rank below average in statewide test scores and failed to improve their API scores by a predetermined amount from the previous year.

But if an underperforming school made sharp gains in the first year and improved at a slower pace the following year, it might remain on the underperforming list even though students were continuing to improve, Weis said. Alternately, one economic or ethnic group of students might have improved greatly while another might have worsened.

“Come next month, we’ll have a lot more information,” he said.

The underperforming schools, by district, are:

* Briggs Elementary School District: Briggs.

* Conejo Valley Unified School District: Conejo Elementary.

* Fillmore Unified School District: Piru and San Cayetano elementary schools.

* Hueneme Elementary School District: Bard, Hathaway, Parkview, Sunkist and Williams elementary schools and Blackstock Junior High.

* Moorpark Unified School District: Peach Hill Elementary.

* Ocean View Elementary School District: Laguna Vista and Tierra Vista elementary schools and Ocean View Junior High.

* Oxnard Elementary School District: Curren, Harrington and Marina West.

* Oxnard Union High School District: Channel Islands, Hueneme, Oxnard and Rio Mesa.

* Pleasant Valley Elementary School District: El Descanso.

* Rio Elementary School District: El Rio.

* Santa Paula Elementary School District: Glen City and Thille elementary schools and Isbell Middle School.

* Santa Paula Union High School District: Santa Paula High School.

* Ventura Unified School District: Foster, Sheridan Way and Will Rogers elementary schools and De Anza Middle School.

Not included in the list are 10 underperforming schools that last year signed up for an incentive program designed to boost scores, Weis said. Under the state program, underperforming schools can receive an extra $200 per student annually to improve performance, but must show results within three years or face sanctions.

The superintendent said those sanctions--anything from shuffling teachers around to closing the school--have scared many administrators from taking advantage of the program.

Michael Martinez, principal at Channel Islands High School, said his entire district decided not to enroll in the incentive program.

“I would love the money,” he said. “The flip side is if we don’t produce the results, a lot of people get punished. And sometimes throwing money at a problem is not the way to solve it, particularly if the money has restrictions.

“I have a lot of kids that are coming in from Mexico and have no English skills whatsoever,” Martinez said. “That makes it real tough on our numbers.”

Channel Islands High School is planning to participate in a county pilot project this year aimed at improving student performance.

“Because they do well on a test, does that necessarily mean they’ll do well in the real world?” Martinez asked. “Testing is just one measure of students’ success, especially with kids coming from a low socioeconomic background. I have kids here that barely make it on a day-to-day basis.”