More than half of Morgan Hill Unified School District schools
saw their scores plunge under the state’s Academic Performance
Index, according to results released by the California Department
of Education Friday.
Morgan Hill – More than half of Morgan Hill Unified School District schools saw their scores plunge under the state’s Academic Performance Index, according to results released by the California Department of Education Friday.
The API is an index that ranges from 200 to 1,000. California’s target number is 800, a measure school officials and sometimes parents use to evaluate how well schools are doing. The API is calculated with statewide assessment results released earlier this month. These assessments include the Standardized Testing and Reporting program and the California High School Exit Exam.
Eight of 14 district schools showed decreases in their 2007 API scores, from as little as eight to as large as a drop of 38 points.
Barrett Elementary slid 31; Charter School of Morgan Hill scores fell by 13; El Toro Elementary dropped by 29; Los Paseos Elementary slumped down 18; Nordstrom Elementary dropped by nine; Paradise Valley plummeted 38, P.A. Walsh fell by 14; Martin Murphy Middle decreased by 10; and Live Oak High dropped by 8.
Five schools saw growth and met or exceeded their target. Burnett Elementary with 10, Jackson Elementary with seven, San Martin/Gwinn Elementary with 23, Britton Middle School with 12 and Sobrato High School with six, all experienced a gain from last year.
However, four district schools, all of which saw scores decrease this year, have already reached or exceeded the state’s performance target number of 800, including Charter School of Morgan Hill at 853, Los Paseos Elementary at 804, Nordstrom Elementary at 873 and Paradise Valley Elementary at 811.
Five district schools are within 50 points of reaching the state target score of 800, Barrett Elementary at 759, El Toro Elementary at 756, Jackson Elementary at 796, San Martin/Gwinn Elementary at 765 and Britton Middle School at 771.
The overall district API score slid slightly, losing six points, from 764 to 758.
“While we had a slight decrease in our overall API, our target of 800 is an attainable target,” said Superintendent Alan Nishino. “Through the continued outstanding efforts of our staff, students and families, I am confident that the district will hit the mark in the coming years.”
District officials said they are “looking cautiously” at the released data due to a “past history of the scores not being stable at the time of the first release by the state.”
Nishino noted that the district has outperformed the state the past two years.
The Adequate Yearly Progress report, another measure school officials have to determine schools’ academic health, was released with the API on Friday. The report uses API data and other information to determine whether public schools are reaching mandated performance goals. The district as a whole met the criteria for its expected AYP, but according to the state, half of the district’s schools did not meet all criteria, Burnett Elementary, El Toro Elementary, Jackson Elementary, P.A. Walsh Elementary, Britton Middle School, Martin Murphy Middle School and Live Oak High.
The seven schools that met all AYP criteria, which include English, math, API and graduation rate at the high school level, are Barrett Elementary, Charter School of Morgan Hill, Los Paseos Elementary, Nordstrom Elementary, Paradise Valley Elementary, San Martin/Gwinn Elementary and Sobrato High School.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools must meet annual AYP targets which increase over time, so that by 2013-14, all students are expected to score at the proficient level or above. In the first years expected growth targets increased by relatively small amounts, but now each year the percentage will increase sharply, a phenomenon district officials refer to as the “hockey stick.” Now schools have entered the steep grade of the upper portion of the “hockey stick.”
Statewide, scores were similar to the district in showing growth at some levels while decreasing in others.
“It is important that we not lose sight of the significant gains that our students and our schools have made since the inception of our accountability system, nor should we misinterpret these current data as a decline in overall student or school performance,” said Jack O’Connell, state superintendent of public instruction. “In particular, these results reflect significant achievement gains by our lowest-performing students and significant gains by African American, Hispanic and English-learner subgroups.”
By law, numerically significant student subgroups within a school must also make improvements for a school to meet its API targets.
These subgroups include ethnic subgroups, socio-economically disadvantaged students and English learners and students with disabilities.
Schools in the district have an estimated 1,350 English learners whose primary language is not English, said Ricardo Amador, the district’s coordinator of English learners. These students make up 20 percent of the students who must take the STAR program tests and the CAHSEE in English, and these results are also included in API and AYP calculations.
“As our English learners become more proficient in English, they will improve their performance on tests. This, in turn, will help raise the academic performance of the schools they attend,” Amador said.
