API scores a mixed bag

Danette Goulet

Schools in all three districts in Huntington Beach saw

uncharacteristically high gains and losses when the Academic

Performance Index, which grades each public school statewide, was

released last week.

Scores rose or fell in the double digits at almost every school in

the city.

The API, is the centerpiece of the statewide accountability system

in California public education. The index is mandated by Gov. Gray

Davis’ Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999. It ranks each

public school according to student performance.

Nearly every public school in California is assigned a numerical

value between 200 and 1,000 each fall. The state has set a target

score of 800 for every school. Each school ranked below 800 is

required to improve its score by a fixed percentage each year until

it reaches 800. Schools that receive 800 or higher are expected to

maintain or improve each year.

Overall, 12 of Surf City’s 29 public schools are at or above a

score of 800. Of those 29 schools, ranging from elementary through

high school, 19 met or exceeded the score set by the California

Department of Education. That means 10 of 29 schools need not meet

the goal set for them.

“I’m not surprised,” said Karen Colby, assistant superintendent of

curriculum and instruction for the Ocean View School District. “When

we looked at SAT-9 scores we realized that some schools had dropped

for various reasons.”

The range by which schools exceeded or fell short, however, was

broad.

In the Ocean View School District, Sun View Elementary School had

a target growth of seven points -- it gained 47 points, raising its

API from 669 to 716. Village View and Westmont elementary schools

gained 24 and 23 points respectively.

Meanwhile, Oak View Elementary, which gained an astounding 100

points last year, fell 15 points this year and Spring View Middle

School plummeted 20 points from a 784 in 2001 to a 764 this year.

“There are different populations of kids, but teaching methods are

the same, it is a solid curriculum,” Colby said of Oak View where 169

points were gained during the last two years of assessment. “Then Sun

View, they really focused on [improving the score.] They had an

action plan for improvement, they really made a concentrated effort

to improve those scores.”

As for Spring View, she said, they are a bit perplexed at the

large drop.

“They are trying to analyze,” she said. “They do not know why ...

they are very surprised. There is really no change in demographic.

It’s going to take some unraveling to get to why -- that was a big

drop.”

In the Huntington Beach City School District, all of the big

swings were positive. Smith Elementary School gained 28 points. It

was targeted by the state to gain one point. Perry Elementary jumped

20 points and Dwyer Middle school rose 18 points.

The news was not as good in the high school district, however.

Of the four schools in Huntington Beach Union High School District

that are in the city, three saw a drop in scores.

“I’m not real happy with our scores, but I don’t think too many

high schools in the county are,” said Jerry White, director of

curriculum for the district. “We’re going to be getting together at

each site and talking about what we do next. But we need to look at

the data more, it may be different things we need to do at different

schools.”

While Marina High School maintained a 748 API, Edison fell six

points. Huntington Beach High School dropped 14 and Ocean View High

School fell 25 points.

Ocean View, however, like Oak View Elementary, has made impressive

gains in the past several years.

“This is the first year they haven’t made the target,” White said.

“They’ve had a lot of success ... also the system is changing.”

Since it began in 1999, the index has changed what test scores are

used to calculate the API and how much it figures various scores in.

Next year the system will change again as a new test replaces the

Sat-9.