Thursday, May 13, 2010

Half-Empty/Half-Full: MAJORITY OF LAUSD SCHOOLS AMONG STATE’S LOWEST CAMPUSES –or- LAUSD TEST SCORES CONTINUE TO IMPROVE

State: Majority of LAUSD schools among state's lowest performing campuses

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News

05/13/2010 11:37:47 AM PDT - Even as more local schools are reaching state targets on benchmark tests, nearly three-quarters of Los Angeles Unified schools fall among the state's lowest performing campuses, according to data released today by the California Department of Education.

Today's release of the state's base Academic Performance Index, or API, ranks schools based on their statewide test scores and how they perform compared to schools with similar demographics. API scores range from 200 to 1,000 points with the target being 800 points.

In the last year, 158 Los Angeles Unified schools reached or exceeded the state's target API score of 800, up from 141 the year before.

However, 72 percent of the district's campuses scored in the lower half of the state's ranking.

That's slightly worse than the district's ranking five years ago, when just under 70 percent were ranked in the bottom half of the state's schools.

The district's performance was much better when ranked against schools with similar demographics - 51 percent of LAUSD schools scored in the top half of that ranking.

Leading the way were local charter campuses. Nearly 40 percent of the publicly funded but independently run alternative campuses ranked in the state's top 10 percent of schools with similar demographics.

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LAUSD Test Scores Continue To Improve

from cbs2.com

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― May 13, 2010 12:39 pm US/Pacific  - The Los Angeles Unified School District is continuing to make gains on the Academic Performance Index, which is calculated by using students' scores on a series of standardized tests taken the year before.

The target API score set by the state Department of Education is 800.

The LAUSD's base API score for 2009 was 693, up from 681 the previous year.

The API score, which shows how each school is performing academically in comparison to other schools, ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1,000. The score is determined by results on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program and the California High School Exit Exam.

The API base report also ranks schools academically on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the strongest, to determine a school's standing compared to other schools statewide.

In the LAUSD, 26 elementary schools received the highest rank of 10. Ivy Bound Academy charter school in Sherman Oaks was the only middle school to achieve the top ranking.

Six high schools achieved the high ranking -- College Ready Academy High .4, Granada Hills Charter High, Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, Renaissance Art Academy and Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies.

(Wire services contributed to this report.)

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