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Wednesday's Internet Edition, October 08, 2008.
Estrellita gives up 144 points on API
GHS misses API – makes AYP
By Rachael Ackerman
Herald Editor
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After a stellar year in the testing arena in 2007, Galt’s Estrellita Continuation High School gave back all but 43 of the 187 points they earned then, by dropping an astonishing 144 points on the Academic Performance Index for 2008.
In the end, Estrellita dropped from an API score of 699 in 2007 to a 555 in 2008, dipping below the state’s red-flag score for schools of a 620 on the API.
At Galt High School, API results showed a slip in academic prowess for Galt’s lone high school, with GHS dropping one point on the API from a 738 to a 737, but in spite of that biting news, district test scores were good enough, in combination with other academic indicators, to clear the 2008 federal NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) hurdles for another year.
With just over half the schools in the state making the API grade in 2008, GHS and Estrellita join a number of California schools waxing and waning on the state’s annual academic health indicator, for a variety of reasons according to district officials.
For Estrellita, due to its small size, there are only six AYP criteria to be met. The school must meet participation rates in both math and English/language arts students tested; they must meet proficiency rates in each category; they must meet a set graduation rate; and they must make at least one-point advancement on the API, or remain above a 620.
At Estrellita, five of six AYP component criteria were met, with the school meeting federal benchmarks for proficiency rates in math and English, by meeting participation rates in students tested, and by making graduation rates. However, by dipping below a 620 on the API, Estrellita failed to make all six AYP criteria.
In the hot seat for next year, Estrellita must either regain its API at or above 620, or make at least one point in 2009 order to stay off Program Improvement status.
Estrellita Principal Tony Lara said his school needed to look at fluctuating test scores differently than most high schools.
“Continuation high schools are very different in a sense that we don’t have the opportunity to develop our students from freshman to juniors,” said Lara. “Our test scores are based on mainly the juniors that are transferred to our school the same year. Nonetheless, as soon as we enroll our students we are prepared to offer them a comprehensive standards-based curriculum and a full support services.”
Lara said there were variables in the 2008 testing arena that played a role in the 2008 loss on the API.
“Our testing sample was much larger than the year before, and we had transferred a large group of students in January. That did not allow us enough time to prepare them for exams. We will not let these scores derail us from our focus, which is the need of our students,” said Lara. “What the community needs to know is that one bad year of scores does not reflect the quality of our program. Estrellita is a model alternative program in our community. Our staff is dedicated to our students and their families. We have energetic, caring, honest and hard-working students that are working to reach their goals. We take pride in our community and school, and we would encourage any member of the community to visit our campus and see for themselves the quality of our program.”
Undaunted by a bad year, Lara said Estrellita is well on its way to the top of the academic pyramid.
“We have made tremendous gains in the past six years, and we will work to ensure that we pay close attention to the data from last year’s results and make the necessary changes toward improvement. We are thankful that we have a wonderful community that has always supported our unique and diverse population of students as we help them to achieve their educational goals.”
At GHS, the story is similar, but with a different outcome.
For larger high schools, the state mandates percentile movement up from one category to the next in each category. For example, each year the state sets a percentage that must move students in the far below basic category, up to basic or better, and so on for each significant student subgroup. If the school does not meet those percentile moves up, they are not given credit for meeting percent proficient targets.
In the case of GHS, none of the subgroup targets were met on the 2008 API, causing the school to miss its API mark, and lose one point. GHS did, however, meet participation rates and the targeted graduation rate for the year. So, what does that mean for the AYP at GHS?
According to District Superintendent of Curriculum Edith Crawford, the AYP calculations for Galt High still worked out in favor of the district in all 22 criteria for several reasons.
Crawford explained that, for the API component of the AYP, all a school has to do is make one point or remain above a 620. Galt High’s 737 on the API for 2008 was satisfactory for the AYP, in spite of the one-point loss.
Crawford also explained that, although this is the second year GHS has failed to meet the state’s API target, as long as the school remains above a 620 on the API, it would continue to meet the annual federal AYP criteria. It is when, and if, a school fails to meet the AYP benchmark targets for two years in a row that it goes on Program Improvement status with the associated consequences and mandates.
Additionally, Crawford discovered that federal AYP proficiency markers are determined only by using the 10th grade CAHSEE scores of that year, criteria that will soon be changing.
As of this year, each school had to post 32 percent of 10th grade CAHSEEE scores at a 381 or better to meet proficiency targets for the AYP. Unfortunately, a student who scores a 350, or better, is considered a passing score for each section. Right now, of the 85 percent of students who passed the 2008 CAHSEE at Galt High, only 55 percent were at a score of 381 or better.
Next year, the AYP proficiency marker moves up 10 percent to 44 percent with a score of 381 or better, and moves up 10 percent again in 2010 with an AYP mandate of 55 percent of 10th grade CAHSEE takers required to pass with a 381 or better in order to meet AYP proficiency rates.
By 2014, the federal government expects 100 percent of students to be proficient in math and English/language arts.
“What it tells us is that we really need to pay attention to those CAHSEE scores in terms of the number of students scoring at proficient, or better, not just to the total number passing each year,” said Crawford. “It also tells us that, between the API, which focuses mandates on moving low-end students up each year, and the AYP, which mandates increased numbers of students each year in proficient or advanced, we are really looking at the whole spectrum of kids.”
GHS Principal Bernie Olmos said he while was “disappointed” by the 2008 scores he said he is not feeling defeated, or disheartened.
“We are moving in the right direction as we continue to focus on literacy across the curriculum, and for rigor and relevance in our relationships,” said Olmos. “We are currently reviewing our CST results and making plans to have staff discussions within academic area that will focus on areas of concern, as well as on areas where we are doing well, and to share best practices and teaching strategies.”
Olmos said testing success is about more than just the student, the teacher and the test.
“There is always a need to have more parent involvement whenever we are addressing academic success, and parents can assist us by pointing out tot heir students that it is a matter of taking the tests seriously and putting forth their personal best,” said Olmos. “This is a matter of pride in self, school, and community.”
Crawford said, while the process of extracting it is painstaking, the information provided by both the API and the AYP is tremendously beneficial to the district.
“We are working toward a more balanced approach to supporting all students, with more emphasis on our neediest students,” said Crawford. “Staff will be looking at students’ CST scores, and determining their goals based on these scores. Also, staff will be doing more articulation across disciplines to better support students, and their own instruction.”
District Superintendent Tom Gemma looks at the API and AYP in a different light, one he would like to shine on testing for the entire community.
“What gets frustrating is the complexity of the test results and what they mean. What needs to be understood by the community is that they are a tool, not a grade for the school,” said Gemma. “I think the tests and assessments are doing the job they were designed to do by highlighting those areas that need to be worked on so we have a system working that has been ordained by the state to meet those goals, and to that end, the tests are doing their job.”
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