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Manhattan Beach schools score well on Academic Performance Report
by John Tawa
Manhattan Beach's public schools rank in the state's top 10 percent based on the 1999 Academic Performance Index Report released Tuesday by the California Department of Education. Each of the district's seven schools received a 10 when judged against schools state wide, the highest score possible.
On a scale of 200 to 1000, six out of the seven schools achieved API scores greater than 866, led by the Middle School's 894. The statewide performance target for every school was 800.
The API was based exclusively on results from the Stanford 9 achievement tests administered last year. Other indicators will be phased in over time.
Only Mira Costa High School didn't reach the target, receiving an API of 766. But the score was still good enough to place the high school among the top 10 percent of high schools in California.
"I think when we see the numbers for all the high schools that the score of 766 will be pretty good," said Dr. Olivia LaBouff, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services.
"The Mira Costa High School staff has been working on a large scale school improvement plan over the last three years through the regular California accreditation review," she added. "We hope that the many initiatives launched through this review will result in at least the two percent expected growth target [for next year] called for through the API."
In addition to determining a statewide ranking, the state also analyzed the performance of Manhattan Beach schools against schools with similar characteristics. Using this analysis, Pacific, Pennekamp and Robinson elementary schools and Manhattan Beach Middle School continued to receive a score of 10, representing the highest decile. Scores for Grand View Elementary and Mira Costa dropped to 9, while Meadows' rank fell to 8.
The disparity in "similar schools" ranking for the elementary schools confused district administrators.
"We'll need clarification to understand why our elementary schools with very similar API's end up with different rankings when compared with 'similar schools,'" LaBouff noted.
On a whole, however, district administrators were pleased with the results of the API.
"We congratulate our students, teachers and parents for the great job they do every day, most recently validated by the results of the API," concluded LaBouff. ER