By Khalida Sarwari
While some Saratoga area schools were among those in the state whose 2013 Academic Performance Index scores decreased, they still remain well above the overall statewide score of 789 out of a possible 1,000.
The API scores cover results from the standardized tests administered last spring in English, math and in some cases social studies and science. For high schools, the API also includes results of the California High School Exit Examination.
Saratoga High School’s API increased from 932 in 2012 to 938 in 2013. In comparison, Los Gatos High School’s 2013 API is 883, down from the 2012 figure of 886.
A news release issued by high school district superintendent Bob Mistele notes that the API scores are “one piece of data we use as we look at student achievement, including areas of improvement and areas of need as we plan curriculum, instruction and services.”
Other local schools saw either improvements or slight declines. Prospect High School increased its API score to 794, up 19 points from last year, while Lynbrook High School’s score dropped from 946 to 942.
Marshall Lane Elementary’s score dipped from 958 to 945, and Blue Hills Elementary’s API decreased from 966 to 949.
Overall, numbers dropped slightly for schools in the Saratoga Union School District save for Foothill, which maintained its score of 933 from last year.
Argonaut Elementary dropped from 979 to 970, Saratoga Elementary from 958 to 952 and Redwood Middle School from 979 to 965.
Saratoga superintendent Lane Weiss noted that with the likelihood of the standardized tests being eliminated next year, the scores don’t carry much significance. Moreover, he said, a 10-point decline “for a high-achieving district such as ours is statistically not significant.”
“We’ll do an analysis and see what steps we need to take to keep things the same and where we need to make improvements,” he said. “Certainly this is only one measure, this is only one snapshot in time of our students’ learning, so we’d like to put it in the proper context.”
The curricula used by all California schools are called the Common Core State Standards. They were adopted two years ago and established a single set of educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grades in English and mathematics.
Because of the disconnect between the core standards and the Standardized Testing and Reporting tests, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has introduced Assembly Bill 484 to replace the STAR “fill in the bubble” tests with computer-based exams. He says the new tests are designed to better assess students’ progress toward career and college readiness.
“It’s time for a clean break from assessments that are out of date and out of sync with the work our schools are doing to shift to the Common Core and help students meet the challenges of a changing world,” Torlakson said. “It’s simply wrong to expect schools to prepare our students for the future while continuing to ask them to use tests that are products of the past.”
AB 484 was approved by the state assembly in May. It was passed by the senate appropriations committee on Aug. 30 and is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.
As originally written, the bill would have continued STAR tests for one more year during the transition, but on Sept. 4, California education officials announced new amendments to the legislation that would suspend the use of STAR tests in math and English-language arts as soon as this spring, while leaving science tests in place. The proposal calls for the new assessment system, known as the Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress, or MAPP, to permanently replace STAR tests in the 2014-15 school year. Officials say the new assessments will measure analytical and problem-solving skills over rote memorization.
Because of the transition from one assessment system to another, the new legislation lifts the requirement for the development of an API for schools for the next two years.
Judy Peterson contributed to this story.
Some Saratoga test scores decline, but schools still well above average
