District’s API scores to change slightly

The scores of a handful of special education students weren’t
factored into recently released state test results, according to a
Morgan Hill Unified School District statement.
The scores of a handful of special education students weren’t factored into recently released state test results, according to a Morgan Hill Unified School District statement.

Once they are, these weighted scores could mean the difference between No Child Left Behind Year 1 Program Improvement for San Martin/Gwinn Elementary School and, theoretically but unlikely, MHUSD as a whole.

The California Department of Education announced last week that since the district administered the California Modified Assessment, a different testing method for low-performing special education students, in the spring of 2009, the initial Program Improvement identification may change when the Adequate Yearly Progress and Program Improvement reports are updated with these specific assessment results.

The tests were modified so that instead of having four options on the multiple-choice test, these students were given three, according to district curriculum coordinator Esther Corral-Carlson. On the English portion, reading passages did not exceed 100 words, either.

These tests were administered to students in grades six through eight for the first time this spring. Performance levels have not yet been set by the state, so results were not included in September’s federal progress report.

Once the California Board of Education adopts performance levels for this assessment, the 2009 federal and state reports will be updated. This will likely be in November, according to the release.

Corral-Carlson said that only about 30 students took the modified assessment test, so it’s unclear whether or not San Martin/Gwinn or the district’s scores will change significantly enough to affect their Adequate Yearly Progress placement.

“There’s a potential (at San Martin/Gwinn), but for the district, we just don’t know how it will shake out,” she said.

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