Local schools show more losses than gains

Nearly four in 10 schools in Sonoma County fell in their comparison ranking with other similar schools across California, according to testing data released by the state Thursday.

The rankings are derived from the state’s most recent Academic Performance Index, or API scores which reflect the spring 2008 testing season and will act as the base when the state releases API growth scores late this summer.

The API is a key measurement of student achievement using tests linked to California’s academic standards. One ranking is how the school compares to other schools in the state that have similar school traits, such as socioeconomic status, the percentage of English learners, the percentage of fully credentialed teachers, the average class size and the percentage of gifted students, among other factors.

Of the 126 Sonoma County schools included in the state data for similar schools, 48 schools, or 38 percent, fell in their ranking compared with schools that serve similar populations. Thirty-four schools, or 27 percent, remained even with last year and 42 schools, or 33 percent improved when compared with other similar schools statewide.

“What we have seen and what this reinforces is that in some areas we are just not keeping pace with the overall state growth,” said Don Russell, assistant superintendent of the Sonoma County Office of Education.

“We don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we are doing better than the state average,” he said. “We don’t want to beat ourselves up and say ‘the sky is falling’ but on the other side we can’t ignore that this is not the first time that the data is telling us we are losing our place. We are not keeping our place on a statewide level.”

Sonoma County’s base API scores remain above the state average. The county’s median scores for elementary, middle and high schools are 796, 773 and 758 respectively. The state median scores are 774, 739, and 702.

The state’s performance target is set at 800 on the API.

Meantime, some educators — especially on those campuses where base API scores are high but similar school rankings are comparatively low — are wrestling over how to use the latest round of numbers.

At Maria Carrillo High, students have the highest base API of the five Santa Rosa City Schools high schools at 827, along with a formidable statewide rank of 9. But when compared with similar schools across the state, the school ranks a 4. That is up from a similar schools rank of 3 last year.

“I’m more concerned with a nine or 10 in the state. I’m less concerned with the 100 similars. I think there is far more variation there,” said Carrillo principal Mark Klick. “I think this is one of the top 10 percent of schools in the state. That is my goal.”

Pine Crest elementary school in Sebastopol earned the highest adjusted API score in the four-school Sebastopol Union District at 799, but ranks a 1 among similar schools. Park Side Elementary and Sebastopol Independent Charter also scored a 1 in the similar schools rank, while Brook Haven Elementary ranked a 2.

Pine Crest is unique in that it combines students in kindergarten, first and second grade into one classroom, and third-graders through fifth-graders in other combination classrooms with an emphasis on “social, emotional education,” said first year principal Liz Schott.

“Standardized instruction is not practiced, so you are probably not going to get results on a standardized test as you would in a place where the curriculum is more aligned with what is being tested,” she said.

“If it were our intention to be performing well on a test and that is what the one showed, that would be more disturbing than the fact that it’s not the goal,” she said.

At West Side Elementary School in Healdsburg, students earned an 803 base API giving them a statewide ranking of 7. But their similar schools rank is a 1.

Principal and superintendent Rhonda Bellmer said that because her campus has only 165 students the scores can be affected by the performance one or two students.

Many students at the Felta Road campus — as much as 50 percent, she said — qualify for Title I services but that is not reflected in state statistics because many families don’t sign up for the free and reduced lunch program.

Had those numbers been included in the state calculation, the school would likely not have been ranked a 1, she said.

“I know their gains,” she said. “We don’t fit into the program the way it’s designed. That’s not an excuse, it’s just an understanding of the variables.”

Among Santa Rosa City Schools, only Doyle Park and Monroe elementary schools and Maria Carrillo High School improved in their similar schools rankings.

Doyle Park jumped from a similar schools ranking of 3 last year to 8 out of 10 in the latest calculation. In the statewide rank, it moved from a 2 to 4.

“It’s heartening to see that with schools that have similar populations and demographics we are getting the job done,” said Steve Nielsen, interim principal at Doyle Park. “We are not ready to tackle Hidden Valley and Proctor Terrace but we are trying to get to 800.”

Hidden Valley Elementary ranks a 10 in the statewide list, but a 5 in the similar schools rank, down from 7 last year.

At Wilson Elementary School west of Petaluma, students posted an astounding leap in base API from 790 to 848, catapulting the approximately 220-student school on Bodega Avenue from a similar school rank of 1 to eight.

The school has instituted a morning math club for 12 students per grade to go over math concepts before the first bell rings every day. Summer school courses have been refined to offer only what specific students need. In addition, those classes have been shrunk from 12 kids to eight for more direct instruction.

“Several years ago, very few were passing the writing test,” said Robin Johnson who teaches a fifth-sixth combination class. “Eighty percent passed the writing test this year and we are anxious to see this year’s scores.”

Nine Sonoma County Schools ranked 10 out of 10 in the similar schools comparison: Burbank Elementary, Hillcrest Middle, Liberty, Orchard View, Piner-Olivet Charter, R.L. Stevens, Two Rock, Whited and J.X. Wilson.

Ten schools reached that mark in the county last year.

News Researcher Michele Van Hoeck contributed to this story. Staff Writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.pressdemocrat.com. She can be reached at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com.