Costa Mesa school scores show improvement

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- While Costa Mesa’s schools did not fare well in

comparison to those in Newport Beach on the Academic Performance Index,

they did shine when put up against schools with similar demographics

statewide.

“I’m optimistic and proud of the work that we’ve done,” said Susan

Despenas, assistant superintendent for elementary and special education.

Although scores for several Costa Mesa schools fell below average,

officials are taking solace in the alternate ranking measure.

After assigning a numerical value between 200 and 1,000 to nearly every

public school in state, the California Department of Education broke

schools down into 10 equal groups, based on their API values. Schools

with a score of 10 are in the top 10 percentile while those with a

ranking of one are in the bottom percentile.

Schools were then given a third ranking. It is this ranking that has been

either a help or hindrance to many schools.

Each school was compared to 100 schools with similar characteristics,

such as student ethnicity, socioeconomic factors and the number of

English language learners. Schools were given another ranking between 1

and 10, based on how they compared to each other.

It is this number that has given many low-scoring schools a boost and

taken some high-scoring schools down a few notches.Most Newport Beach

schools retained a high score when compared to like schools, with the

exception of Newport Elementary, which fell from a ranking of 9 statewide

to 1 when compared to similar schools.

So while some schools might be performing well above average, they are

not necessarily performing as well as other well-above-average schools.

In Costa Mesa, where many of the rankings fell below average, scores

jumped in this category.

Pomona Elementary school, for instance, went from a 4 to a 10, Rea

Elementary leaped from 2 to 8, and Whittier Elementary school received a

10.

District officials are proud, Despenas said, of how Newport-Mesa schools

stacked up against similar schools.

“The information and the data that we’ve been gathering over the last two

years has allowed us to focus on areas that need improvement,” she said.

Despite schools’ successes when compared with other under-performing

schools, officials said they know they have a long road ahead of them.

“We’re not saying these are acceptable scores,” said school board member

Martha Fluor. “We have schools that have recognized that.”