API scores favorable in Conejo schools

By Joann Groff  joann@theacorn.com

District officials say they are happy with Conejo Valley Unified School District's test scores, which were released by the state last week. Almost all the district's schools met their goals, some surpassing their targets by several points.

The Academic Performance Index is the state's measurement of schools' growth, based on the results of STAR testing and the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). The API is a numeric index that ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1,000, with a statewide target of 800.

Manzanita was the only school in the district that didn't meet its schoolwide target. The school scored a 737 last year and was to improve by five points. Instead, it dropped nine points.

Most of the schools in the district had already reached the 800 mark, meaning they weren't required to improve.

Four elementary schools, Conejo, Glenwood, Park Oaks and Manzanita, needed to improve by five points, and all but Manzanita did.

Conejo and Park Oaks had huge jumps, 24 and 31 points, respectively, surpassing the target and reaching 809 and 816. Glenwood climbed nine points to reach 789.

The highest-performing school—Sycamore Canyon— improved six points to 932. Eight of 20 elementary schools scored over 900, and 10 scored 800 or more.

All four middle schools had already reached the 800 goal, although Los Cerritos and Sequoia dropped two and three points, respectively.

Newbury Park High School improved significantly, jumping 27 points to 830. Thousand Oaks and Westlake high schools increased 11 and 19 points to 835 and 851, respectively.

NPHS also saw tremendous gains among its Hispanic and English-language-learner population. All numerically significant subgroups, which include socioeconomically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities, must meet their growth targets for a school to meet its API growth target.

"Some of that has to be attributed to the hard work and dedication of the staff," said NPHS Principal Athol Wong.

"Teachers are there to assist students in language development, and we have a dedicated counselor for our special needs students, including English learners," Wong said. "That kind of service to students who need it most really helps."

Wong also credited the afterschool help that teachers offer and the excellent instruction that students receive day to day.

California's superintendent of schools, Jack O'Connell, was pleased with the state's numbers.

"The results show that our schools are making real progress and that more students in California are meeting the challenge of higher expectations," O'Connell said.

"I'm particularly pleased that this year's API results show some narrowing of the achievement gap between students who are white or Asian and their peers who are African American, Hispanic or learning the English language," O'Connell said. "Because the API gives schools more credit for improvement made by the lowest-achieving students, it encourages educators to focus on improving the achievement of students who struggle the most."

O'Connell did add, however, that the state's achievement gap is still "unacceptably wide."

CVUSD's subgroups generally performed well.

The district's 2,015 English-language learners jumped 28 points, reaching 726. Special education students (1,849) improved their score from 680 to 686.

African American students, who number 247, fell 10 points, while the American Indian subgroup dropped 25 points, although both groups' numbers are still above 800.

The Asian subgroup (1,319 students) reached 951, increasing 7 points. The Caucasian subgroup (10,609 students) is up 4 points to 879.