A POOR GRADE FOR LAUSD SCHOOL AGAIN: Westchester High ranks in bottom fifth in state. Review hits on achievement, communication, truancy & discipline

By Paul Clinton, Daily Breeze Staff Writer

Thursday, April 26, 2007 — A top-to-bottom review of Westchester High School urged administrators of the Los Angeles Unified campus to improve substandard student achievement and communication with parents and the community, and address truancy and disciplinary problems plaguing the school.

Westchester High ranks in the bottom fifth in the state academically, state data shows.

The five-member committee from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, an independent quasi-governmental agency that reviews school performance, announced the results of the review Wednesday in the school auditorium.

Over the past school year the panel analyzed data provided by Westchester staff involving everything from graduation rates and truancy to curriculum. The review culminated with three days of interviews of parents, teachers, administrators and students.

The school says it has a graduation rate of about 89 percent of students who start their senior year. However, the number of students who begin their freshman year at the school and do not graduate from Westchester is about 50 percent.

It is not known how many of those students graduate elsewhere.

In announcing the findings, committee chairman William Brand also credited Westchester High for its student-friendly atmosphere, willingness to improve and variety of course offerings.

"We want to come back and get some real accountability in this area," Brand said. "Nobody is negative about this school."

The school's problems aren't likely to keep it from gaining accreditation so it can continue to operate, officials said. Schools rarely lose accreditation. Crenshaw High School lost its accreditation almost two years ago, but the agency restored the status after the school agreed to an administrative overhaul.

Nevertheless, teachers union chief A.J. Duffy called for a "change of direction of the leadership" at Westchester High.

Los Angeles school board President Marlene Canter, who represents the district where the school is located, said she had not seen the audit. Canter said she has been pushing for "high expectations and rigor" there.

"I've been calling on the district for many years to increase the amount of professional development to our teachers and administrators in the areas of classroom management in order for all schools to become more effective," she said.

The accreditation group requires follow-up review after one-, three- and six-year terms depending on the effectiveness of the school. The group is expected to announce its follow-up for Westchester High in June.

Three years ago, the agency offered a slightly more optimistic view of the school. But that report contained many of the same concerns it aired Wednesday.

Like many LAUSD high schools, Westchester High graduates a lower percentage of students than schools in many other Southern California districts.

Three out of four students attending the school are below proficiency in basic subjects such as algebra, geometry, English and science. The school needs to develop better strategies for low-performing students, Brand said.

Discipline and truancy issues also have plagued the school for years, teachers and parents said.

On a typical school day, as many as 10 percent of the 2,200 students arrive late to class, said Leslie Bragg, a teacher and the school's Title I coordinator.

Community efforts to improve the school bubbled over in an April 20 letter to the accreditation committee from the Westchester/Playa del Rey Neighborhood Council. In the letter, the council lamented the fact that no principal has stayed at the school for more than three years since the early 1990s.

Principal Anita Barner, now in her third year in the top staff post, said a fix-it plan has been drafted and improvement measures are being rolled out.

"We will see improvements as we move into small learning communities and a four-by-four schedule," Barner said. "Learning to dialogue better helps us to move forward with increasing academic achievement."

The school is moving to an altered version of its block schedule that will have students taking four classes for four 10-week terms in a school year. Students will take each class five days a week, instead of on alternating days.

In March, the district also approved Westchester High's plan to divide the school into four small learning academies in September. Incoming ninth-graders will be placed into one of the academies. Other students can apply for entry to theme-driven small schools emphasizing humanities and the arts; media, communications and technology; and health and environmental studies.

The school is using a $1.7 million LAUSD grant to divide the campus into the smaller units and $2.1 million from the U.S. Department of Education to establish and operate small learning communities.

Gail Levy, who will have two daughters at the school in the fall, isn't convinced the improvement plan can be properly put in place.

"Nobody's clear enough on the mechanics of how it works," Levy said. "And they don't communicate with parents."

Westchester High, which has produced a string of professional basketball players, has tried to lessen its image as a training ground for the NBA by honoring students who have excelled academically, maintaining a 3.5 GPA or higher, Barner said.

The school draws about half of its students from Westchester, Ladera Heights, Windsor Hills and Playa del Rey. The other half arrives via district buses from Inglewood and other surrounding communities.

Also, students living in the Westchester High's enrollment boundaries often get permits to attend Venice High, Hamilton High or El Segundo High.

NOTE THE CATCH 22 TREND FOR A CAP RECEIVER SCHOOL WITH DECLINING NATIVE ENROLLMENT: Eighth graders in Westchester High's enrollment area can also apply to attend Beverly Hills High School on their diversity permit program. As all these schools have declining enrollment there is competition for "good" students.