The academic performance index (API) scores in Conejo Valley Unified School District are, for the most part, moving up; a sign that public schools are going in the right direction.

That doesn't mean that anyone should become complacent. Administrators, teachers, parents and kids in CVUSD should keep raising the bar.

Schools testing below average should set an achievable goal to reach that mark and top it. Average schools should seek above average API scores. Above average schools should shoot for excellence and excellent schools should try for outstanding.

No matter how well a school is doing, it should try to do better.

Certain schools are at a distinct disadvantage because of high enrollments of English as a second language students or children with special needs. Those schools cannot, however, cite their students' challenges as an excuse to give up. If underachieving schools produce even a modest improvement in scores, they will deserve as much or more praise than schools that are loaded with students who are socioeconomically privileged.

In other words, a little improvement at a school in a less affluent neighborhood deserves as much positive recognition as substantial improvement at a school in an upscale part of town.

While the importance of education deserves emphasis at home and in school, we must also remember that test scores are only one way to measure progress. Some kids will never shine brightly in academics, but will show growth and talent in other areas. People can be successful even if they were never on the honor roll.

So let's keep moving those API scores upward but not forget that life is more than test scores.