Administrators question validity of ‘similar schools’ rankings

Andrew Wainer

Although Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley schools scored generally

well on the Academic Performance Index released last week, when compared

with other “similar schools,” many of them ranked woefully low.

The scores, released by the state Department of Education, showed that

Huntington Beach area schools placed generally above the state average

and toward the middle of Orange County schools. But in the index’s

“similar schools column,” which ranks the schools against other schools

with similar demographic information, many local districts fell far below

the average, especially in the Huntington Beach Union High School

District.

Schools that landed in the ninth percentile among state schools fell in

the bottom second percentile when compared to similar schools. That’s

just where Edison and Fountain Valley high schools found themselves.

Bill Padia, director of the State Department of Education’s Office of

Evaluation, said the similar schools rank compares campuses with 100

others that most resemble it in eight categories.

Ethnicity, the number of English language learners, parents’ educational

levels and the percentage of fully credentialed teachers are some of the

criteria used to group schools together in the similar schools column.

“If a school scored high in the statewide rank and low in the similar

school rank, they are not doing the same things as a school that scored

high in both columns,” Padia said.

But administrators from local districts said they think the “similar

schools” column is dubious.

“The information they have is very soft data,” said Catherine Follett,

Fountain Valley School District’s assistant superintendent of

instruction. “We know that some demographic information they used for our

school was incorrect.”

Fountain Valley schools scored universally high in the statewide

rankings, their lowest score landing in the eighth percentile. But the

similar school scores were not as impressive.

For example, Fred Moiola School ranked in the top 10% overall but found

itself in the bottom 40% when compared to similar schools.

“Some of the similar school information was gathered from students. It

wasn’t exactly scientific,” said Karen Colby, Ocean View School

District’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

Huntington Beach administrators complained that they haven’t been told

how each demographic factor is weighed in the similar schools column.

“We don’t even know what schools we were compared to,” Follett said. “The

state will not let us know for two months.”

Other administrators expressed similar frustration.

“It’s hard to determine what it means when we don’t have all the

information,” said Jerry White, director of curriculum for the Huntington

Beach Union High School District. “What was the point difference between

the schools in the similar schools column? Five? Two hundred?”

Huntington Beach’s lowest ranked school statewide, Oak View Elementary,

looked good compared to similar schools. It fell in the bottom 10% in the

statewide rankings but hit the top 30% when compared to similar schools.

FYI

SCHOOL RANKINGS

Here’s a list of some schools with large disparities between statewide

ranking and similar schools ranking:

Huntington Beach City School District

* S.A. Moffett Elementary: overall 9, similar 3* Ethel Dwyer Middle:

overall 8, similar 2* Isaac Sowers Middle: overall 10, similar 2

Ocean View School District

* Oak View Elementary: overall 1, similar 7

* Hope View Elementary: overall 8, similar 1

Fountain Valley School District

* Fred Moiola: overall 9, similar 4

* Samuel Talbert Middle: overall 8, similar 3

Huntington Beach Union High School District

* Edison High: overall 9, similar 2

* Fountain Valley High: overall 9, similar 2

* Marina High School: overall 9, similar 4

* Scores represent percentile rankings with 10 being the highest and 1

being the lowest.