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API scores moving on up
by Paul Teetor
Manhattan Beach school officials said they are thrilled by the school district’s performance on the Academic Performance Index Growth Reports.
"I’m very proud of all our schools for continuing to grow, and I’m pleased that five of the seven schools will receive cash awards," Superintendent Jerry Davis said Tuesday, a day after the state released the statewide API results.
The exact amount of the cash awards will be determined later, depending on the state of the economy and how many schools qualify for cash awards.
The target score for all schools statewide is 800. Every Manhattan Beach elementary school was over the 900 mark, with Robinson Elementary School leading the pack with a score of 939.
"We’re thrilled that all our elementary schools are over 900," said Sheralyn Smith, an assistant superintendent. "Not many school districts in the state can match that."
Manhattan Beach Middle School scored 891, up from 881 the year before.
Only Mira Costa failed to meet the 800 target, scoring at 795. However, that represented a 14-point increase over the year before, when Mira Costa scored 781.
But school officials said the Mira Costa score has to be looked at in context.
"I’ve been through most of the high school results in the state, and not many grew by 14 points," Davis said. "I’m very proud of their growth."
And Davis offered an explanation for the high school receiving lower scores than the elementary schools and the middle school.
"Mira Costa is a school that is made up of many students, often from different schools," Davis said. "There is a huge mobility factor because we bring in kids from all over the South Bay. That is our challenge, and I think we did a great job of moving these kids forward by raising the high school scores 14 points."
While he was pleased with the district’s overall performance, Davis said he — and many other school superintendents — have serious reservations about the cash award program.
"I’m not happy that the governor recently vetoed a $200 million textbook bill and yet found money to fund these cash awards," Davis said. "Many superintendents are suspicious and not supportive of the cash award program."
Davis pointed out that even though all his elementary schools scored over 900, Grand View Elementary School will not receive a cash award because its score went from 909 to 908.
"I have five elementary schools, and four will get money for things like reading and math specialists," Davis said. "But this one school dropped one point so it won’t get any money. This really hurts our ideals of teamwork and equality. This can really affect a district when you’re trying to build a team."
And Davis thinks the state needs to re-examine the whole concept of cash awards.
"Is this really the right message we want to send to our schools?" he said. "I think the issue of rewards should be looked at in a broader sense."
Smith summed up the district’s reaction to the API results.
"These are outstanding scores, and we are still improving," she said. "Comparatively speaking, we’re thrilled." ER