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September 24, 2009
Danielle Gillespie , Staff Writer
All three Pacific Palisades elementary schools attained Academic Performance Index scores in the 900s and Paul Revere Middle School and Palisades Charter High School significantly increased their scores, according to results released by the California Department of Education.
API is a state standard that measures every public school's progress from year to year, and it is based on test results from the Standardized Testing and Reporting program (STAR) and the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). API scores range from 200 to 1,000, with the goal that all schools statewide reach 800.
'We're really happy that the whole [charter] complex is now in the 900s,' said Palisades Elementary Principal Joan Ingle in reference to the local elementary schools, plus Topanga and Kenter Canyon. 'All the schools did really well.'
The Department of Education also released the No Child Left Behind's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report. Marquez, Canyon and Palisades elementary schools made AYP; however, Palisades High and Paul Revere fell short of the national standard.
AYP looks at the same standardized tests as API but requires that a certain percentage of students in each subgroup (every ethnic group, students with disabilities, English learners and socio-economically disadvantaged students) score proficient or above in math and English. Middle schools must have 46 percent of students in each subgroup score proficient or above in English and 47.5 percent in math, while high schools must have 44.5 percent in English and 43.5 percent in math.
At Paul Revere, the African Americans, Hispanics, socio-economically disadvantaged, English learners and students with disabilities subgroups did not make the threshold. The African Americans and English learners subgroups missed the mark at PaliHi.
'These will obviously be areas of focus for the coming year,' said PaliHi Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held.
MARQUEZ ELEMENTARY
Marquez Charter Elementary showed the most improvement, increasing its API score by 31 points to 906.
'Every year, we look at the test scores as a group, looking at trends, as well as individual achievement of each student,' Principal Phillip Hollis said. 'We look for areas in need of improvement, then teachers do exactly what they need to do.'
Hollis thinks that hiring an extra teacher in the upper grades to lower class size contributed to the success. He also cited expansion of the CATCH program (Caring Adults Teaching Children How) to third, fourth and fifth graders. More than 40 at-risk children participated in the program, receiving individualized mentoring from adult volunteers from the Palisades community.
The Marquez Digital Edge technology program, where students use laptops in the classroom daily as opposed to 45 minutes a week in a computer lab, also gave teachers the opportunity to pilot new programs.
This school year, Hollis and his teaching staff hope to build on the API and AYP scores by maintaining the CATCH program and continuing to target instruction to meet the unique needs of each student.
CANYON ELEMENTARY
Canyon Charter Elementary scored the highest API score of the schools with 952, which is 17 points higher than last year.
'I am walking into a dream,' said Joyce Dara, the school's new principal. 'Clearly, the teachers are meeting the needs of all students.'
Dara, who replaced Carol Henderson, also attributes the school's success to parental involvement. Parents actively participate in the Booster Club and on the school's governing board. 'It's a collaborative effort,' she said.
PALISADES ELEMENTARY
Palisades Charter Elementary improved its API score by 29 points to 928.
'We examined the test data closely and looked for the children at risk,' Ingle said, adding that teachers then targeted specific students with the goal of helping them reach the next level.
Ingle said she is delighted because two children who were scoring below the basic skill level improved their scores to proficient and advanced.
'We want to catch children and not let them fall between the cracks,' she said.
PAUL REVERE
Paul Revere Principal Fern Somoza is exceptionally proud of the teachers for their efforts to improve the school's API score by 15 points to 848.
'Our teachers continued to teach under difficult and trying times,' Somoza said. Seventeen teachers received notice last spring that they could be laid off because of budget constraints. In the end, two teachers were laid off and replaced by other Los Angeles Unified School District teachers with more seniority. LAUSD laid off teachers based on seniority, which caused reshuffling across the district.
Somoza also acknowledged the students for the higher score: 'The kids came prepared [for the testing] and they knew they had to do their best.'
All of the Revere subgroups (which are minority, economically disadvantaged and special education students) improved. The African Americans and students with disabilities improved the most, both increasing their scores by 25 points. African Americans scored 739 and students with disabilities, 594.
Somoza said Revere is starting an intervention program for seventh graders to make up classes they failed in the sixth grade. The school has also added clubs such as guitar, movie screenwriting and horticulture for the students to participate in during lunchtime.
Revere scored higher than Emerson Middle School in Westwood, Palms Middle School in Los Angeles, and John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica, but fell below Santa Monica's Lincoln Middle School, which scored 882.
PALISADES HIGH
Palisades Charter High School made gains in its API score, improving by 21 points to 818.
'This significantly exceeds the average increase for high schools in California and is particularly noteworthy since making big gains is harder to do the closer you are to the top,' Dresser-Held said. 'The results are directly attributable to the outstanding efforts of our staff and our phenomenal students and families.'
Last year, African Americans were the only subgroup not to make gains in 2007-08, so the school launched the Village Nation program to focus on boosting their success rate.
'It clearly had an impact with the African American subgroup's API score jumping 20 points [to 704],' Dresser-Held said.
To achieve the overall higher results, school leaders strengthened professional learning communities, where teachers of the same subject area work together on instruction. They also evaluated all the school's educational programs.
The Hispanic students improved by 28 points to 762, the Asians by 31 points to 896, whites by 23 points to 879 and socio-economically disadvantaged students by 14 points to 762.
'We still have a sizable achievement gap, and we know what we need to focus on going forward,' Dresser-Held said.
Granada Hills Charter High School, which is larger than PaliHi but has similar demographics, posted a higher score of 843. Nearby University High, Santa Monica High and Venice High (all with diverse populations) had lower scores.
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