Ocean View district test scores on the rise

Angelique Flores

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Ocean View School District made mighty leaps

in the state’s standardized test scores released last week.

The two schools with the highest jumps, Oak View and Sun View

elementary schools, are the same schools that were identified as

under-performing last year.

From tests taken in the spring, the Academic Performance Index

measured academic performance and growth in the schools from 200 to

1,000. The state’s performance target is 800. If a school surpasses the

state target, it’s goal is to improve by 5% the next year.

Oak View and Sun View elementary schools “had that added pressure that

other schools didn’t have,” said Karen Colby, the district’s director of

curriculum and instruction.

If scores weren’t raised, these schools could suffer such consequences

as having sanctions imposed on them or being taken over by the state.

But Oak View and Sun View had almost a 70-point increase. While they

still scored below the target -- with 490 and 667, respectively -- the

high increases still show huge gains.

School officials attribute the jump to the focus on student assessment

that allows teachers to tailor instruction to improve skills in areas

where students are weak. Sun View has a flexible grouping program, in

which students are grouped with others of the same learning level in each

subjects.

Sun View Principal Allan Pogrund said class-size reduction in

kindergarten through third grade, more attention to language arts and

math, and a push to improve reading have also helped boost the scores.

“We’re creating a culture of kids dedicated to reading,” Pogrund said.

Oak View students were helped by after-school tutoring and literacy

programs through the Oak View Collaborative and the Oak View Library.

Parent involvement has also been a key factor, officials said.

“We give them what they need here at school and offer after-school

help,” said Karen Catabijan, principal at Oak View.

The school sent informational notices to parents, held parent

education meetings about the test and hosted family nights during the

school year. Parents at Oak View, where 85% of the population is Latino,

have been learning English.

The language barrier is one reason Oak View’s and Sun View’s scores

are lower than other schools, Colby said. Other reasons are the high rate

of students moving both into and out of the school during the year and

the lower socioeconomic status of its students.

Westmont Elementary School, which dropped six points this year, has

the same problems. Last year, the school experienced a significant change

in demographics and an increase in students moving into and out of the

school. The school also absorbs overflow from Oak View, adding to the

school’s diverse population.

Thirty percent of the school’s students are English language learners,

and that number is increasing, officials said.

“Those are factors, but we don’t want to see that as an excuse,”

Westmont Principal Sandra DeYoung said. “We have more challenges, and

it’s going to take us a little while to get close to the 800.”

DeYoung said she plans to boost parent involvement this academic year.

The school needs to analyze the demographics and possibly bring in other

types of programs, Colby said. The district will focus on helping

Westmont raise its scores.

“It bruises. . . . The teachers and the students work very hard,”

DeYoung said.

It also hurts the school financially because it will not be eligible

for the money attached to API scores, officials said. Depending on the

scores, schools are eligible to receive money from the state through the

Governor’s Performance Award, School Site Employee Performance Bonus and

Certificated Staff Performance Incentive Programs.

The state has more than $400 million available to reward schools,

which could receive up to $150 per student and $25,000 per teacher.

Amounts will be determined in December, when all scores will be

available.