By Richard Hoegh and Esther Pereira, with Patric Hedlund [ view chart by Cat Buckles ]
On Friday, August 31, two community reporters for The Mountain Enterprise (Richard Hoegh and Esther Pereira) attended a news conference with State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell. The statewide telephone conference reviewed California’s performance in the school "report cards" issued last week.
The Department of Public Instruction issued the State’s 2007 Accountability Progress Report on Aug. 31.
The report sets out student academic performance for each school and district measured under state law by the Academic Performance Index (API) and by Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
The API scale ranges from 200 to 1000-800 is the basic proficiency target. Below is a report about the 2005, 2006 and 2007 results for various schools serving Mountain Community students. Bear in mind that the federal NCLB requires a five point growth in proficiency scores each year. [ view report chart ]
Of all California schools in 2007, 45% made all growth targets including API compared to 64% that did so in 2006. Of all schools in 2007, 53% met proficiency standards in math and English compared to 63% that did so in 2006.
O’Connell, in his Aug. 31 telephonic press conference described the results as "mixed" and "leveled off" after achieving five years of annual increases.
O’Connell emphasized that stiffer challenges lie ahead in meeting academic achievement goals. By the year 2014 federal law requires 100% proficiency in Math and English.
To assist schools in the statistics showdown, O’Connell recommends designating each school subgroup, for example learning disabled, as a separate school for statistical purposes, so subgroups do not impact the main school’s overall statistical performance.
He also recommends tracking each student’s academic performance throughout his or her school career, K-12. Currently, schools do not have accurate tracking to confirm whether a student who starts in the school system graduates.
O’Connell acknowledged gains that have been accomplished. He reminded all that learning growth is a moral imperative for the students’ as well as for the state’s economic future.
–Jake Andrews contributed research for this report
Richard Hoegh is a retired intellectual property attorney who practiced for over 30 years in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Mountain Community Town Council and a resident of Frazier Park.
Esther Pereira is an educator and former superintendent of Gorman School District, which won a "Distinguished California School" designation under her guidance in 1998. She is a resident of Pine Mountain.
This is part of the September 07, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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