School test scores yield mixed results

Only two of 13 Petaluma City Schools didn’t meet their school-wide state growth targets in standardized testing this spring, but seven of them did not meet federal criteria for all components, according to results released last week.

“It’s frustrating, and particularly difficult for schools such as McKinley Elementary School, which has been improving its scores every year, but still is not reaching federal growth targets,” said Ron Everett, PCS director of educational services for curriculum, assessment and accountability. “This can be difficult for our teachers, who are trying to do whatever they can to improve the work of all students, but we know we have to keep finding ways to ensure that all students are getting the education they need.”

The discrepancy in satisfying the goals is due to different aims of the federal Adequate Yearly Progress report and the state Accountability Progress Index report.

“The state has a growth measurement that requires schools to move forward by percentage points,” Everett said. “The federal government has a bar that keeps moving up, and every subgroup at each school has to meet the target.

“The more subgroups a school has, the more difficult it is to meet the moving target.”

All eight PCS elementary schools had higher scores in English-language arts than they had in 2008, and all schools except Live Oak Charter School and Penngrove Elementary School improved their math scores.

“Mostly, I was pleased with our schools’ test results, particularly the elementary schools’ scores,” Everett said. “And as a district, we are making incremental gains.”

PCS as a whole scored 791 in English-language arts, just short of the proficiency level of 800, and 776 in math.

“If we have the same growth in the English test next year, we’ll be over 800,” he said.

Still, PCS as a whole could face sanctions for not reaching federal targets in all components for the second consecutive year. This won’t be determined until November, when results of the California Modified Assessment — a test that can be taken as an alternative to Standardized Test and Reporting test — become available.

Also, four PCS schools face additional sanctions after not reaching federal criteria in all components. McDowell Elementary School and Petaluma Junior High School were sanctioned for the fifth year, while McKinley and Kenilworth Junior High School were sanctioned for the fourth year.

Schools that receive federal funding are sanctioned if they don’t meet their academic targets for two consecutive years, and are given Program Improvement status.

In the first year, the school must, whenever possible, offer student transfers with free busing. During the second year, schools must offer free private tutoring to low-income students, and beginning in the third year, schools must consider options such as reopening as a charter school or replacing staff members.

The AYP report shows that Live Oak, McDowell and McKinley elementary schools; Kenilworth and Petaluma Junior high schools; and Casa Grande, Valley Oaks and Sonoma Mountain high schools did not satisfy federal criteria in all components.

McKinley, Kenilworth, PJHS and Casa Grande High School did not meet their AYP criteria in English-language arts and Live Oak Charter School, McDowell, Kenilworth, PJHS and Casa Grande did not meet their AYP math targets.

Everett says that McDowell, where 84 percent of the students speak English as a second language, and McKinley, where 71 percent do so, will regroup students based on language ability and examine student performance data on a more regular basis.

“The staff at McKinley has been working very hard, and the school is just a few (proficient) students away from meeting all AYP criteria,” he said.

Everett says that he is not sure why Kenilworth and PJHS are remaining in PI status, but says that administrators will keep working with the schools, and that new reading programs should help improve test scores.

Meanwhile, all but two PCS schools met their school-wide state growth targets.

Live Oak Charter School and Valley Oaks High School, an alternative school, did not meet school-wide API targets. Live Oak, PJHS, Casa Grande High School and Petaluma High School did not satisfy their growth targets for all subgroups, but all other PCS schools did.

In the Old Adobe Union School District, all schools except Bernard Eldredge improved their English scores, and only La Tercera Elementary School didn’t improve its math score.

“I’m very pleased that we had nice gains in four out of our five schools,” said Superintendent Diane Zimmerman.

La Tercera did not meet federal AYP criteria in math, and Bernard Eldredge Elementary School, where 51 percent of the students speak English as a second language, did not satisfy it in English-language arts. La Tercera also did not meet its school-wide API growth target, and along with Bernard Eldredge, did not reach its target for all subgroups.

Zimmerman says that Bernard Eldredge’s Dual Immersion Program, which began this year, should eventually help to boost student scores. Students in the program are taught both in English and Spanish. This year, a class of 22 kindergarten students and a combined class of 22 kindergartners and first-graders are participating in the program, which eventually will include all elementary-school grade levels.

“Research shows that if students become bi-literate, this helps to improve their achievement,” Zimmerman said, adding that the positive impact often isn’t seen until fourth, fifth or sixth grade.

She says La Tercera’s math scores slipped mainly because of the low performance of one class.

“The school improved in seven of 10 areas, but one sixth-grade group didn’t do well in math and science. Our math scores had been improving each year, and I’m not sure why they went down, but we’ll try to find out what happened,” Zimmerman said.

The Cinnabar, Dunham, Liberty, Two Rock Union, Waugh and Wilmar Union school districts all met their AYP criteria and their API growth targets.

(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)