Schools meeting state, federal goals

All but one school in the Burbank Unified School District met their

growth targets on the Academic Performance Index, according to a

report released Wednesday by the California Department of Education,

and that school as already surpassed the state goal.

“We’re extremely pleased,” said Joel Shaprio, the district’s

Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. “The API scores

show all schools except for one grew, and there was exceptional

growth among some schools.”

The Academic Performance Index, part of the Public Schools

Accountability Act of 1999, ranks each school’s performance on a

scale of 200 to 1,000, with a state goal of 800 for each school.

School ranks are calculated using the results of California State

Standards Tests, the California Achievement Test and the California

High School Exit Exam.

It is each school’s goal to achieve and maintain score over 800,

with school’s below the 800 mark striving for a 5% increase from the

previous years scores, Shapiro said.

“We’re thrilled that we have seven elementary that have meet the

state API goal of 800,” School Board President Paul Krekorian said.

This year Disney, Edison and Stevenson elementary schools were

added to the list district schools with a score of 800 or above -- a

list that already included Emerson, Bret Harte, Jefferson and

Roosevelt elementary schools.

Elementary school scores ranged from 770 to 851, with improvements

ranging from 5 to 57 points. The middle schools had scores ranging

from 727 to 793 with improvements ranging from 13 to 18 points.

Washington Elementary School’s score improved the most, going from

715 last year to 772 year, a growth of 57 points.

“It’s wonderful,” Principal Jane Clausen said. “The teachers and I

focused on each child individually and made sure we met their needs

so they could grow.”

While none of the district’s high schools have achieved a score of

800, officials are still pleased with the growth schools have made.

“What we often see is growth at the elementary level, a leveling

off at the middle school level and in high schools sometimes there’s

a decrease,” Shapiro said. “But we’re seeing growth at all levels.”

Burbank High School achieved a score of 734, up 30 points from

last year, and John Burroughs High School achieved a score of 758, up

21 points from last year.

The only school in the district that lost ground was Roosevelt

Elementary School, which went from 841 last year to 840 this year.

But the district views this statistic as insignificant, especially

considering that the school is already above the goal of 800,

according to Shapiro.

All but three of the district’s 21 of schools met the federal

Adequate Yearly Progress criteria.

The Adequate Yearly Progress is an annual measurement used by the

federal government to determine schools’ progress under the No Child

Left Behind Act of 2001. The act requires public schools to show

students have reached 100% proficiency in math and reading by 2014.

In California, Adequate Yearly Progress is calculated from the

results of the recently released California High School Exit Exam and

California Standardized Testing and Reporting program. The two tests

determine whether students are scoring at advanced, proficient,

basic, below basic or far below basic.

This year, 24.4% of elementary and middle school students and

22.3% of high school students were required to test proficient or

above in English-Language Arts.

The only schools in the district that did not meet the criteria

were Luther Burbank and Jordan middle schools and the Options for

Youth-Burbank Charter School.

Specific subgroups of students at the two middle schools had

trouble meeting the proficiency scores: learning-disabled students

and English-learners, Shapiro said.

Luther Burbank Middle School Principal Anita Schackmann said her

school will use the test scores to understand how to help students in

the two subgroups achieve the proficiency standards.

“We’ll be taking a look at it and analyzing the data,” Schackmann

said. “Data gives us good direction so we can make action plans

earlier in the year.”

For more information on the tests and criteria and for a complete

list of score’s, visit the California Department of Education’s

website at o7https://www.cde.ca.gov/index.asp.

f7API SCORES

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SCHOOLS 2004 2005 Growth

Burbank Unified School District Average 751 771 20

Walt Disney Elementary 779 804 25

Thomas Edison Elementary 789 825 36

Ralph Emerson Elementary 818 830 12

Bret Harte Elementary 807 812 5

Thomas Jefferson Elementary 837 851 14

McKinley Elementary 747 778 31

Miller Elementary 787 792 5

Providencia Elementary 761 770 9

Theodore Roosevelt Elementary 841 840 -1

Stevenson Elementary 795 824 9

George Washington Elementary 715 772 57

Luther Burbank Middle School 714 727 13

Jordan Middle School 775 791 16

John Muir Middle School 775 793 18

Burbank High School 704 734 30

John Burroughs High School 737 758 21

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