Schools score well on API

Mike Swanson

A majority of the public schools in Huntington Beach earned higher

Academic Performance Index scores this year than last.

Among that ever-growing elite group was Oak View Elementary

School, which increased its score by a whopping 80 points.

“Our staff now is the best it’s ever been,” said Principal Karen

Catabijan, who’s been principal at Oak View for eight years. “We’ve

cut out all the holiday stuff and focused on academics. We don’t

water anything down and stick to state standards, and our parents

appreciate it. They love seeing their kids succeed.

“This area in general is seeing so much growth in the community.”

The Academic Performance Index, released annually by the

California Department of Education, is the cornerstone of the 1999

Public Schools Accountability Act, which presses schools to meet

state standards. Schools that meet or exceed growth targets are

eligible for monetary awards, while the state sometimes intervenes at

schools with declining scores.

Fourteen of the city’s 29 schools had scores exceeding the state

target score of 800. Schools can score a minimum of 200 and a maximum

of 1,000 on the report.

Oak View had the lowest score in the Ocean View School District,

with 648. About 90% of Oak View’s students are English learners,

Catabijan said.

Sun View Elementary, another of Ocean View’s schools with a high

percentage of English language learners, was the only elementary

school in the district to lose ground, going from 716 to 701. Karen Colby, the district’s assistant superintendent in charge of

curriculum and instruction, expects scores there to be significantly

higher next year.

“Our principal at Sun View’s new to the district, and the staff

hasn’t had the same rigorous training program for teachers that we’ve

implemented at Oak View,” Colby said. “We’d like to see every school

show growth every year, so it’s disappointing to see a decline, but

we have some ideas to move those scores back toward the goal of 800.”

Marine View Middle School also scored lower than last year, going

from 815 to 809, which surprised Colby most when the index was

released last week.

“It was a small decline, and they’re still above 800, but [Marine

View] was a Blue Ribbon school last year, so I was a little

surprised,” Colby said.

Circle View Elementary, which was named a Blue Ribbon school this

year, scored highest in the city for the second straight year.

“It’s really a lot of hard work that goes into achieving those

scores,” said Principal Pauline Tressler, who went to Washington,

D.C. Wednesday for a Blue Ribbon ceremony. “Our district has a

wonderful curriculum, our teachers stick to state standards, and

parents work hard with their kids at home. It’s a collaborative

effort.”

Star View increased its score by 38 points, putting it above the

state goal of 800.

Every school in the Huntington Beach City School District met or

exceeded last year’s scores, and its lowest-scoring school last year,

Perry Elementary, had the second-highest jump in score, from 685 to

737. Seven of the district’s 10 schools scored higher than 800.

Moffett Elementary School made a significant leap of 61 points,

which means it has now exceeded the state standard of 800.

Perry Elementary School, like Oak View and Sun View, is a Title 1

school, with several students coming from socio-economically

disadvantaged backgrounds. Principal Elaine Keeley said that 45% of

the school’s students are on a federal free lunch program and 25% are

English as a second language students.

“Five years ago, we were at 585,” Keeley said. “We’ve shown steady

improvement on these scores, but our focus is broader than that.

We’re concerned about the whole child, not just how well they do on

tests.”

Since the API first came out, high schools have consistently had

lower scores than the younger grades and more of a struggle gaining

ground, which makes Ocean View High School’s gain of 36 points all

the more impressive.

Scores continue to rise because schools have a better idea of what

the state wants, said Jerry White, curriculum director for the Union

High School District.

“Our success is rewarding, but predictable,” White said. “When you

know what they want, and you have kids who work hard, it’s easier to

succeed.”

Huntington High School also gained points this year, jumping from

a 708 to a 724. Edison High School dropped 11 points from last year,

but remains the top-scoring high school in Huntington. Marina High

dropped three points, but has the second-highest score.

None of the high schools have hit the state target.

“Sometimes, people forget things, and the older you get, the more

likely you are to do so,” White said. “Kids can have gaps in

knowledge not because they weren’t taught something, but because they

forgot. The higher you go in school, the more gaps you’re likely to

get.”

The ultimate goal is to close gaps between the city’s highest- and

lowest-scoring schools, Colby said, adding that the trend appears to

be in the right direction.

“The hope is that by offering the same curriculum and the same

training districtwide, you start seeing the schools looking more and

more similar to one another,” Colby said.

* MIKE SWANSON covers education and crime. He can be reached at

(949) 494-4321, (714) 965-7177 or mike.swanson@latimes.com.