The California Department of Education released its 2011-12 Accountability Progress Reporting on Thursday, revealing a broad spectrum of significant score increases and decreases for the Morgan Hill Unified School District.
Overall, the district is up nine points from last year with a score of 789.
In terms of deconstructing each school’s API and using it as a tool to gauge academic progress, MHUSD Superintendent Wes Smith says the district doesn’t “put a whole lot of weight in any one year. We look statistically for trends over time and make analysis based on those trends.”
For as much hype that surrounds the official state API score, additionally, Smith made a point to “remind the public that this is one indicator.”
“It’s one test that really doesn’t give us as much information as the public thinks it does,” he said. “There are many other things we have to look at.”
Seeing ethnic/socioeconomic subgroups of students through to college, as well as graduation and dropout rates are a few examples, he said.
The API is a numeric index that ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1,000, with the state benchmark sitting at 800. Statewide, the average API scores for elementary, middle and high schools is 815, 792 and 752.
The Academic Performance Index is the state’s yardstick that measures the academic performance and growth of schools. Together with the Adequate Yearly Progress scale – a federal standard that determines whether a school is meeting the federal mandate known as No Child Left Behind – the two scores (in some cases) determine state and federal funding for schools, and also sets the pace for next year’s goals and expectations.
The Gilroy Unified School District increased two points from last year to 802 in 2012. The Hollister school district (which includes elementary and middle schools) scored 761; Aromas-San Juan Unified scored 765.
Several MHUSD schools including Nordstrom, P.A. Walsh and Martin Murphy made healthy gains of 34, 22 and 35 points. Nordstrom continues a three-year improvement trend and is the second school after the Charter School of Morgan Hill to breach the 900 API milestone.
Schools that saw drops in scores this year include Barrett Elementary (23), El Toro (10), Jackson (13), Paradise Valley (19), San Martin/Gwinn (5) and Live Oak (13).
Barrett has shown a decreasing trend in the last four years, sliding by 44 points since 2008.
One reason that applies not only to Barrett but for other schools with dipping scores revolves around organizational changes and “a lot of transitions” that have occurred in the district, said Smith, who has been at his post for 3.5 years. New leadership affects continuity, which is a variable “that we knew would have an impact.”
MUHSD staff is working with site principals and teachers to analyze curriculum rigor, delivery as well as student interventions.
“That’s what they’re working on, and I know they’re headed in the right direction,” said Smith.
P.A. Walsh and Martin Murphy have yet to break the 800 barrier, but climbed out of the trenches after seeing their scores dip significantly in 2011.
“Not only did they drop and come back up, but they came back up more than they dropped,” noted Smith of P.A. Walsh’s and Murphy’s scores.
Martin Murphy Principal Joey Adame was shooting for a 50-point increase, but says the improvement still demonstrates successful implementation of the professional community learning model. Their weekly collaboration allows teachers and administrators to review student assessment data in order to generate strategies and interventions for pupils who need it. Adame also attributes the positive growth to twice-monthly student assessment tests, along with the new implementation of interactive classroom technology.
The handheld student responders (digital devices that let students input the answers electronically) generate real-time data that allows teachers to gauge whether to re-teach or move on.
“Kids feel free to respond. It’s not just one kid being called out,” Adame added. “It’s made a huge impact on the way our lessons are being created.”
Adame purchased the new technology after he took the helm as principal last year and revised the school’s single site plan to match the academic goals.
“We spent the money where it needed to be spent,” he added. “Most of the time, (children) are exposed to technology more than we are, and they know it. I think we have to adapt.”
Smith is counting on Murphy to barrel past the 800 API benchmark soon.
“Murphy killed it,” he said, of the school’s recent positive strides. “I’m excited about the results.”
Charter School of Morgan Hill stayed consistent with a 901 score for the second year in a row, while Los Paseos has a healthy score of 830 (up two points from last year). Britton Middle School and Ann Sobrato High also increased by 13 and 12 points, respectively.
One particular site made a gargantuan leap upward.
Central Continuation High School increased 158 points to 656 after decreasing significantly the year before.
Central Principal Irene Macias-Morriss says the school has upped its diligence insofar as after-school programs, lunchtime tutoring, staging an intervention with teachers and/or parents “as soon as we feel a meeting is warranted…we didn’t wait as long as we have had in the past. We catch them quickly,” she said. “We’re able to fix problems quickly and not wait a whole semester.”
Macias-Morriss showered praises on the combined efforts of teachers, students and their parents.
“We are so amazingly proud of staff efforts to never give up with any of our students,” she said. “I just hope we can continue this momentum.”
Paradise Valley, additionally, has “grown immensely” and been affected by an influx of new students who have taken a while to get up to speed, Smith explained. The growth is partially attributed to the fact that other MUHSD schools are in Program Improvement status – a timeline for revising schools established by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. When a school goes into PI, parents can legally request to have their student attend a different school. Currently Los Paseos, Paradise Valley and Nordstrom are the only elementary schools out of eight that aren’t in PI.
While there has been less continuity throughout the district than what is desirable, “we believe it’s for the right reasons,” said Smith.
He views changes in leadership, staff and educational strategies, not to mention new additions such as the Dual Immersion Multicultural Education program at San Martin/Gwinn and turning Jackson Elementary into a math and music magnet academy, as a “positive disruption.”
“It’s kind of like sharpening the saw,” he explained. “It takes a little bit of time; we’re gonna lose a little bit of ground, but we’re preparing for a future of much more growth and success…overall, I’m happy with where the district is headed.”
Barrett: 757…decreased by 23
Charter School of Morgan Hill: 901…stayed the same
El Toro: 782…decreased by 10
Jackson: 751…decreased by 13
Los Paseos: 830…increased by two
Nordstrom: 915…increased by 34
P.A. Walsh: 748…increased by 22
Paradise Valley/Machado Elementary: 851…decreased by 19
San Martin/Gwinn: 782…decreased by five
Britton Middle: 775…increased by 13
Martin Murphy: 789…increased by 35
Ann Sobrato High: 789…increased by 12
Live Oak High: 764…decreased by 13
Central Continuation High School: 656…increased by 158
