School rankings both bitter and sweet

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- Two Newport Beach elementary schools ranked first and

second in the county and were among the top 25 elementary schools in the

state when the statewide school rankings were released Tuesday.

But it was a bittersweet victory for the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District, with all of its Costa Mesa schools falling below the state’s

target score of 800.

“I knew this was coming,” said school board member Wendy Leece. “I think

we’ve got to be open to some new ideas -- to be aggressive.”

The new Academic Performance Index (API) ranking system was mandated by

Gov. Gray Davis’ Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 and ranks each

public school based on student performance.

Statewide, 6,730 schools received a score between 200 and 1,000. The

school rankings were based solely on the Standardized Testing and

Reporting, or STAR, scores from last spring, which included the Stanford

9 results.

The statewide and county rankings did not include those from the

Capistrano Unified School District because of a computer glitch.

Once other performance indicators -- such as attendance, graduation rates

and high school exit exams -- become available in future years, they will

be incorporated into the rating system.

The state has set a target score of 800 for every school across the

board. Each school ranked below 800 will be required to improve their

score by a fixed percentage each year until they reach 800. Schools that

receive an 800 or higher are expected to maintain or improve that grade

each year.

In Newport Beach, all but three schools earned a score of 800 or higher

while in Costa Mesa, not one school received an 800. The highest score in

Costa Mesa was California Elementary school with 770.

Andersen Elementary was ranked 14th among elementary schools statewide

with a score of 933. Harbor View Elementary was 25th in the state with a

score of 922.

While the district rejoices at the success of Newport elementary schools,

Wilson Elementary was ranked in the bottom 10% of the state with a score

of 443.

In the past, district officials have blamed Costa Mesa’s lower test

scores on the abundance of English language learner students.

“Our expectations need to be higher, especially for our English

learners,” Leece said. “We just have to do more.”

The index measures performance on four or five content areas. For

students in grades two through eight, 40% is based on mathematics, 30% on

reading, 15% on language and 15% on spelling.

For grades nine through 11, performance is based evenly on the five

content areas of math, reading, language, history/social science and

science.

The rankings are broken down into 10 percentage categories -- 10 being

the highest and one the lowest -- then compared to similar schools.

Schools also received a breakdown of their scores to help them determine

the areas in which they need the most work.

The purpose is to determine what schools are doing well and deserve

rewards, and which schools are not meeting students’ academic needs and

are eligible to participate in the intervention program.

Schools that exceeded the target grade will be eligible for up to $150

per student in additional state funding and other recognition awards from

the state.

Whittier Elementary in Costa Mesa was one of 430 campuses in the state to

volunteer for the $96-million state intervention program this past year.

By volunteering, schools were admitting to low student achievement in

return for gaining financial help to improve test scores.

In return, schools face strict penalties if they do not improve. These

schools, along with any school that does not increase its score annually,

will face serious sanctions, including school closure, education

officials said.