SBCSS News and Press Releases

County Students Continue To Improve On State API Growth Scores

2010-09-13

SAN BERNARDINO - While a record number of San Bernardino County Schools reached or surpassed the state standard and the county's accountability measurement hit another record level, there is a growing divide between state and federal measurements as to how they compare to individual schools, according to the Accountability Progress Report released today by the California Department of Education.

With 22 more schools surpassing the state standard of 800 for the Academic Performance Index (API) from last year to this year, a record 169 county schools have reached the state standard. Plus, the county's API rose to a record-high of 746, an increase of 14 points and the county's third consecutive year of double-digit growth.

"These countywide results show the continued progress that our students and schools have shown in 11 years of state testing," County Superintendent Gary Thomas said. "Despite these very real gains in the state's accountability system, it is disconcerting that there remains a contradiction when we compare those results with the federal accountability system."

For the first time, seven county schools that met the state's accountability measurement of 800 also fell into Program Improvement, the designation under the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for schools that don't meet their achievement targets for two consecutive years.

"We actually have three county schools that are celebrating the fact that they have reached the state standard of 800 for the first time with these latest results, but at the same time, because they have not reached the federal targets, they are viewed as failing for dropping into Program Improvement," Thomas said. "There's a mixed message where schools can be successful on the one hand and not succeeding on the other."

California's accountability system is based on a growth model where schools are credited with set increases in their scores, as long as they reach measurements not only for all students, but those across ethnic and demographic subgroups.

The federal accountability system requires that percentages of students reach established proficiencies in math and English language arts. These Annual Measureable Objectives (AMO), which will increase each year until 2014 when all students in all subgroups have to be 100 percent proficient.

"There remains a big disconnect between the percentage of schools who meet their state performance targets under the Academic Performance Index and those making the federal targets under Adequate Yearly Progress," Thomas said. "This year, 55 percent of county schools made all of their API growth targets, while only 33 percent of county schools made AYP.

"With such a wide disparity in the two accountability measurements, it creates confusion for parents of students - not to mention those of us in education and in our communities - as to how successful our schools are performing."

With 47 new county schools moving into Year 1 of Program Improvement this year, it's an increase of 62 percent from a year ago. Last year's total of Year 1 Program Improvement schools countywide was 29, which was more than double the total from 2008. Next year, 98 new county schools are in jeopardy of dropping into Program Improvement after not reaching their AYP targets this year.

With a record 192 schools in the county now in Program Improvement, that's 54 percent of the county's 354 total of schools that receive Title I federal funding.

While there was an increase in the number of county and state schools that fell into Program Improvement, there were eight county schools that exited PI status after reaching all of their targets for the past two years. Four of those schools were in Year 5 of PI. They were among only 28 statewide that exited PI from Year 5.

The county schools and their districts that exited PI this year are:

• Chapparal Elementary (Year 1), Fontana Unified School District;
• Friendly Hills (Year 1) and Joshua Tree (Year 1) elementary schools, Morongo Unified;
• Juanita Blakely Jones (Year 1), Kimbark (Year 5), Lytle Creek (Year 5) and Muscoy (Year 5) elementary schools, San Bernardino City Unified;
• Mission Elementary (Year 5), Ontario-Montclair;

Under the state accountability system or API, for the second consecutive year several county subgroups bettered statewide averages in their scores. More than 72 percent of county schools increased their API scores, 1 percent above the state average. County elementary (70 percent) and middle schools (80 percent) were ahead of the state averages in their categories, while county high schools (77 percent) matched the state rates for increasing API growth scores.

"The fact that we are seeing positive trends for two years in a row in comparison to state averages shows the commitment and dedication our students and teachers are making," Thomas said.

The five individual schools in the county that showed the most API growth this year are:

• Warm Springs Elementary, San Bernardino City Unified School District, 72 points;
• Apple Valley High, Apple Valley Unified, 67 points;
• Barstow Junior High, Barstow Unified, 64 points;
• Fairfax Elementary, San Bernardino City Unified, 63 points;
• Summit Leadership Academy (charter), Hesperia Unified, 63 points.

There also were nine additional schools that passed 900 in API growth for the first time. There are now a record 26 schools countywide that are at or above 900, more than 2 1/2 times the total from two years ago. The new 900 schools are:

• Caryn (903 API) and Perdew (906) elementary schools, Etiwanda School District;
• Endeavour School of Exploration (903), Victor Elementary;
• Litel (930), Hidden Trails (904) and Oak Ridge (901) elementary schools, Chino Valley Unified;
• Rio Vista Elementary (917) and Sycamore Rocks (904) elementary schools, Apple Valley Unified;
• Victoria Groves Elementary (909), Alta Loma School District.

Other highlights in the state's Accountability Progress Report:

• Hispanic and African American subgroups of county students both were above state averages for those who met their growth targets. In the county, Hispanic students (74 percent) were three points higher than state averages. African American (68 percent) students in the county were five points higher than the state averages for those who met their growth targets.
• Socioeconomically disadvantage students (71 percent) in the county finished higher than their peers statewide by 1 percent in meeting their API growth targets.
• The county's API growth of 14 points was one better than the state's growth of 13 points, but the state API (767) remains ahead of the county API (746).

For the complete state Accountability Progress Report, visit the California Department of Education's website at www.cde.ca.gov.

Check out the APR tables.