Fountain Valley outscores Huntington Beach schools

Andrew Wainer

Fountain Valley schools scored significantly better than their Huntington

Beach counterparts in the state’s first Academic Performance Index,

according to results released Tuesday.

The index, which ranks schools between a high of 1,000 points and a low

of 200, was based on Stanford 9 standardized test scores.

For the most part, Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach schools fell in

the middle ranks of schools countywide.

A single school, Courreges Elementary School, landed a spot among the

county’s top 25. With 877 points, the Fountain Valley school is the 12th

highest ranked in the county.

Likewise, a single school from the area fell in the county’s bottom 25 --

Oak View Elementary School in the Ocean View School District. It was

ranked 450th out of the county’s 462 schools, making it the 13th lowest

ranked school in the county.

District officials said 98% of Oak View students are English language

learners, clearly putting them at a disadvantage on the Stanford 9

exam.Fountain Valley elementary schools were given an average of 804

points on the index, surpassing the Department of Education’s statewide

goal of 800. Elementary schools from the Huntington Beach City School

District earned an average score of 762. Pat McCabe of the state

Department of Eduction said the median score for elementary schools

statewide was 629.

“I think our scores are excellent,” said Fountain Valley School District

Assistant Supt. Catherine Follett. “We have quality instruction, a lot of

parent involvement and a student population that is very solid.”

District Director of Curriculum Lynn Bogart was also pleased with the

results.

“It’s terrific,” she said. “We are proud of all the instructional

accomplishments of parents, students and teachers.”

Middle schools from both cities fared well, with Fountain Valley

averaging 791 points between its three middle schools and the Huntington

Beach City School District earning an average of 769 points between its

two middle schools. The median score for middle schools statewide was

633.

Although schools in Huntington Beach did not fare as well as Fountain

Valley schools, administrators from Huntington Beach districts

nevertheless lauded the results.

“We are very pleased,” Ocean View’s Director of Curriculum Karen Colby

said. “We feel that our showing is good.”

Ocean View School District, whose schools are mostly in Huntington Beach,

received an average elementary school score of 692.

The district’s highest-ranking middle school, Vista View, lies within

Fountain Valley city limits.

Vista View scored 779 points, with only 11% of middle schools statewide

scoring 800 or more.

Fountain Valley also shined at the high school level.

The highest ranked school in the Huntington Beach Union High School

District, which includes Huntington Beach and parts of Fountain Valley

and Westminster, was Fountain Valley High School.

Fountain Valley High School received a score of 739. The state average

for high schools was 620.

Jerry White, district director of curriculum, also credited “good parent

backing” and “hard-working students” for the school’s high scores.

The Academic Performance Index was born of the Public Schools

Accountability Act, initiated by Gov. Gray Davis. The act was put into

state law in April 1999.

Bogart of the City School District said 60% of the test is based on

language arts and 40% is based on math.

Although district staff in the Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley areas

were generally supportive of the test, many saw its assessment as being,

at best, rough indicators of a school’s performance.

“I’m not sure at this point that the scores mean a whole lot,” said

Edison High School Principal Brian Garland. “Kids are being given a test

that has yet to be proven as a valid instrument of assessment.”

Education officials cite disparities between the Stanford 9 material and

statewide classroom content standards as one of the index’s most glaring

errors.

“It’s a Catch-22,” said Jerry White, director of curriculum for the

Huntington Beach Union High School District. “The state has adopted

content standards that are different than the Stanford 9. Are we supposed

to teach the standards or the test?”

White cited the fact that the Stanford 9 tests high school freshmen on

economics, a subject they are not expected to take until after their

freshman year.

“Kids are being put in an unfair position,” Garland said. “Districts and

the state have got to get together to decide what it is they want the

schools to do: follow state guidelines or teach the test.”

Still, most district officials agreed that the index assessment was a

good start.

“I am supportive of the governor’s stress on accountability,” Ocean

View’s Colby said. “I think the state’s goals are attainable over time.”

Colby praised the state for including all schools in the index, not only

high performing ones. Colby said there are only six states nationwide

that publish rankings for all its schools..

“We’re on the cutting edge,” she said.

McCabe of the state Department of Education said the index will include

additional indicators over time, relying less on the Stanford 9 and

integrating attendance and standards-based materials.