Local schools rank in top 10 percen
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

Las Virgenes schools exceeded state benchmarks in the 2006 Academic Performance Index (API) scores, according to the latest report released by the California Department of Education.

The API is based on a scale from 200 to 1,000 and is calculated by how well students perform on California standards testing in English/language arts, mathematics, history/social science and science.

The Las Virgenes Unified School District as a whole scored 870 for 2006, up 10 points from 2005. The score indicates that the district ranks in the top 10 percent of 8,000 schools that were eligible for testing.

"It's a constantly moving target," Joe Nardo, assistant superintendent of education, said of the changes made to the test each year. "Based on the changes the state has made, (these are) very good scores," he said.

White Oak Elementary School turned in the best individual score at 940.

Agoura High had the lowest score in the district at 830.

Schools also are ranked from 1 to 10 compared to other schools in the state and to other schools with the same demographics. Twelve of the 14 schools in Las Virgenes earned a 10 in the statewide ranking.

A 10 means a school performed in the top 10 percent of schools throughout the state. For example, Sumac Elementary earned a 9, indicating that the Agoura Hills elementary school is among the top 20 percent in California.

Only five of the 10 elementary schools earned a score of 10 in the similar schools ranking. The state compares each school to 100 schools with similar economic opportunities and challenges and calculates a score from 1 to 10. Nardo said the statewide ranking of 10 was a "solid number you could take to the bank." But he wasn't as pleased with the similar schools ranking. He called the same schools rank a "soft number" since so many factors play into a school's characteristics.

Comparisons are made with regard to social and economic factors, student ethnicity, percentage of teachers who are fully credentialed versus those with emergency credentials, percentage of students with disabilities and those who are learning English, and other factors.

Nardo said the state has implemented a new formula that reduces the penalty against students who don't take the science or math portion of the standardized test. Previously, these students were automatically scored at the lowest level- 200, which was averaged into the school and district's total score.