District breaks 900 barrier
Friday, September 5, 2008 5:12 PM PDT
One elementary campus captures the highest score in the county.
By Chris Boyd, Peninsula News
Students in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District broke the 900 mark on the state’s 2007-08 Academic Performance Index, or API, officials announced Thursday. PVPUSD students had an average API score of 904, besting last year’s mark by five points.
That’s much higher than the state’s 800-point target but just a bit behind Manhattan Beach Unified and Hermosa Beach City school districts, which both scored a 909.
Scores range from 200 to 1,000. API reflects growth in student achievement from one year to the next, as determined by results on the California Standards Tests, the California Achievement Tests, 6th Edition tests and California High School Exit Exam.
“Overall the results are great,” said PVPUSD Superintendent Walker Williams. “Everything seems to be going quite well.”
“Growing five points and breaking that 900 number is outstanding,” said Dr. Susan Liberati, PVPUSD assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “We’re very happy.”
Things went particularly well for Cornerstone Elementary School, which scored a whopping 977, the highest mark of any campus in Los Angeles County and 12 points higher than the previous year’s score.
“We’re really pleased with that,” Liberati said.
Peninsula High School posted an 879, up eight points from last year, while Palos Verdes High School scored an 853, up three points from 2006-07. Palos Verdes (947), Miraleste (899) and Ridgecrest (936) intermediate schools posted 19-, 15- and seven-point gains respectively.
Other elementary schools posting higher scores were Vista Grande (954) with a 14-point gain and Rancho Vista (923) with a one-point gain. Montemalaga Elementary (941) had the same score as last year, while Dapplegray (922), Lunada Bay (924), Mira Catalina (916), Point Vicente (920), Silver Spur (961) and Soleado (904) all saw minor drops.
Williams said officials aren’t too concerned about small decreases in scores. “We use it as a learning opportunity as well … trying to get to every student,” he said. “The principals have actually started [crunching numbers]. They have all the data for individual students. It helps you determine instructional strategies for the coming year.”
“Fluctuations occur for a variety of reasons,” Liberati said. “We’re not overly concerned about that.”
Administrators and teachers will continue to focus on helping all students succeed, Liberati said.
“This is one of many variables that is very important to us in Palos Verdes,” she said. “We’re focused on the whole child.”
District representatives also are concerned about student performance on SAT tests, AP exams and the state’s STAR fitness test, among others, Liberati said.
“We’ve had a big theme this year in staff development about differentiated instruction,” which aims to meet individual children’s learning needs, she added.
Statewide, 36 percent of California schools met the 800-point bar or exceeded it, compared to 31 percent in 2006-07.
“I’m particularly pleased that this year’s API results show some narrowing of the achievement gap between students who are white or Asian and their peers who are African-American, Hispanic or learning the English language,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. “Because the API gives schools more credit for improvement made by the lowest-achieving students, it encourages educators to focus on improving the achievement of students who struggle the most. As a result, the API indicates more clearly where the gaps are narrowing.”
— City News Service contributed to this report
To comment on this story, go to www.pvnews.com.
cboyd@pvnews.com
 Print this story |  Email this story
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of pvnews.com.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
|
