API scores high in Las Virgenes

By Stephanie Bertholdo Acorn Staff Writer

Las Virgenes Unified School District earned top 2002/03 Academic Performance Index (API) scores, qualifying most of the schools for monetary awards.

LVUSD scored 845 out of the possible 1,000 score this year, showing a 19 point increase over the previous year’s API score. Ninety-nine percent of all students were tested.

Every school in LVUSD posted scores above 800, the benchmark for all California schools. Eligibility for monetary rewards is based on improvement from the previous base year. To meet the API growth target, districts and individual schools are required to achieve at least one point over the previous year’s scores.

All of the elementary and middle schools made significant gains, surpassing their target scores. Chaparral Elementary gained 50 points from last year’s testing, with Bay Laural demonstrating a 40 point improvement. White Oak Elementary School scored the highest district-wide, with 900 out of the 1,000 points available, but Yerba Buena, Bay Laurel and Willow Elementary Schools, were right behind White Oak, with 898, 897 and 895 respectively.

Although Calabasas High School scored an impressive 805 on the STAR testing, the school had dropped its score by four points from the previous year, rendering it ineligible for cash awards.

Joe Nardo, assistant superintendent of education, said that the students had "just fantastic results. The scores are up, and we are very pleased with the results."

The API growth report is the second of three phases to be released by the California Department of Education. The final report will be released in January.

The growth report is based on California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program, which has been used to assess student achievement in California since 1999. The API is the numeric index that ranges from 200 to 1,000. It’s the cornerstone of the state’s public school accountability system.

Eighty percent of the STAR testing was weighted towards the California Standards Test (CST) in the elementary and middle schools, while nearly 90 percent of the high school testing rested on the state standards and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). The remainder of the test results was based on a nationally standardized test, CAT/6, which replaced the SAT/9.

The CST challenged students in grades two through 11 in English language arts and math, while 10th and 11th graders tackled additional testing in social sciences, as well as the exit exam. Fourth- and seventh-grade students were tested on their writing skills.

The examination allows the state to evaluate students based on its own standards, yet compare how California students rank against students nationwide.

The STAR reports are required by the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Phase I of the test report, which was released in late August, scored schools on their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) scores. The final report will be released in January.