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Uploaded: Thursday, May 28, 2009, 11:23 AM
Passing grade for local schools
New reading on state tests shows little change in position from year to year
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by Casey Weiss
Mountain View Voice Staff
It isn't new test scores -- just a new way to read the old test scores.
But according to new rankings released by the state, both of the local public high schools, and three elementary and middle schools, placed in the top 20 percent of schools in California based on their standardized test scores from 2008.
The state released its test scores last August, evaluating schools according to their academic performance or API ranking. This complex formula ranks schools on an annual basis, based on their California Standards Test (CST) scores, and gauges the performance and growth of districts, schools and student subgroups on a scale ranging from 200 to 1,000 points. The state target is currently set at 800.
Using this API index from 2008, the state released new ratings on May 21, ranking schools from 1 to 10. If a school received a 10 it means students scored in the top 10 percent in the state, and a 9 indicates students scored in the top 20 percent, according to Mountain View-Los Altos Superintendent Barry Groves.
High school and elementary schools are ranked in separate categories, and the state compares high school scores to other scores from high schools.
Mountain View High School received a 10 and Los Altos got a 9. The Mountain View Whisman School District's numbers were more varied, with Huff receiving a 10, Bubb and Graham Middle receiving a 9, and three other schools receiving a 5.
"The only thing that is different is they have now given you a decimal ranking," Groves said of the new rankings.
The high schools ranked the same in 2008 as they did in 2007. The elementary schools varied slightly, with Castro falling from a 6 to a 5 and Monta Loma dropping from a 7 to a 5. Theuerkauf increased from a 3 to a 5, and Graham raised its score from 8 to 9.All the other schools in the district stayed the same.
School administrators already evaluated the numbers from 2008 when they came out last fall, and Groves said that in the high school district "the last three years our scores have looked significantly better."
He added that subgroups, mainly low-income and Latino students, still fall behind their counterparts, but are bringing up their scores.
SCHOOL RANKINGS:
Mountain View-Los Altos High School District
Los Altos High: 9
Mountain View High: 10
Mountain View Whisman Elementary School District
Bubb: 9
Landels: 6
Huff: 10
Castro: 5
Monta Loma: 5
Theuerkauf: 5
Crittenden: 6
Graham: 9Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Laurel McClure, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on May 28, 2009 at 3:15 pm I continue to be dismayed by the results of attempts to reduce something as complex as school quality to a single number. It reminds me of similar attempts to quantify physician and hospital quality, which struggle to take into account the enormous variation in patient populations.
I currently have a 3rd grader at Landels Elementary, and a 9th grader at Mountain View High School. My older child attended Graham before starting at the high school. My experiences, and those of my kids, at all three of these schools have been very positive.
I am shocked to see that, while Graham and MVHS are highly ranked in this latest round of scores, at 9 and 10 respectively, Landels earns only a 6! I assume that this is based on the usual test scores prescribed by NCLB. I can only say that it does not in any way reflect the quality of the education my two kids have received at Landels Elementary. All of the teachers my children have had at Landels have been more than competent; I consider many of them outstanding educators, who somehow blend rigor with creativity and warmth. My daughter's current 3rd grade teacher has certainly drilled her on her multiplication tables, but she has also found a way to introduce a wealth of enrichment activities into her classroom, from origami to classroom musical theater. We have also been happy with the supplementary GATE activities offered on campus.
I'm glad that I talked to parents in Old Mountain View before enrolling my son at Landels a decade ago. They gave me a much clearer picture of the strengths of our local public schools than these much-publicized test scores ever could have done.
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Posted by Retired Community Member, a resident of the Rex Manor neighborhood, on May 30, 2009 at 7:13 pm All schools in the Mountain View Whisman School district do a fine job of educating all children!!
My kids went to Theuerkauf and now so do my grandkids. As a volunteer, I see that all the teachers and principal do they're very best to make sure all kids learn. They all work hard and they improved their API points by 41 last year!!! That says a lot.
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Posted by Ned, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on May 31, 2009 at 11:12 am
"All schools in the Mountain View Whisman School district do a fine job of educating all children!!"
That really flies in the face of the facts. You should stop drinking that Kool-Aid.
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Posted by cc, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Jun 17, 2009 at 4:27 pm It's good to see Theuerkauf is improving. However, the school's API score of 760 is still pretty bad if we compare it with other schools that achieved API 950+?
I am hoping parents and teachers realize that there are more need to be done. Kids don't do good in school is less likely to be sucessful when they grow up (note: I am not talking about the few exceptions).
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