District Test Scores Show Dramatic Gains, Especially Among Minorities

By Erica Williams
Staff Writer

September 1 -- English test scores rose sharply at schools across the district, with elementary students, particularly African Americans and Latinos, showing the most dramatic gains and high school students the least, according to State test results released last month. Math scores remained steady or showed slight gains.

Overall, the 7,674 district students who took the test boosted their English scores (which include reading and language arts) on the 2003 California Standards Test by 20 percent over last year. The boost in English scores for African-American students was double the general gain, while Latinos boosted their scores by 50 percent.

In math, the gains were less dramatic. Overall, 55.7 percent of students achieved proficiency in math in 2003, compared to 53.8 percent last year.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Schools Superintendent John Deasy. “This is a community that invests in its schools, and it’s making remarkable progress. Our students are achieving.” The results, Deasy added, demonstrate that the district’s policies for student achievement are working “for all kids.”

“That’s been the whole focus, to improve achievement for the district, particularly for our non-white population,” Deasy said. "We exceeded at that by more than our greatest expectations.”

Non-white students made significant strides in closing a wide achievement gap with their white counterparts in English this year thanks in large part to a district-wide “intensive intervention” effort at elementary schools to boost student achievement, Deasy said.

Of the 604 black students who took the test, 48.6 percent performed at a proficient or better level, compared to 29.6 percent last year, while 48.2 percent of Latinos met the proficiency measure compared to 26.4 percent last year.

Comparatively, 83 percent of the district’s 4,532 white students who took the test demonstrated proficiency in English this year, compared to 70 percent last year. Overall, 68.9 percent of all district students demonstrated proficiency in English this year, compared to 55.5 percent last year.

Asian student achievement kept pace with those of whites in both years, while English learners and socially and economically disadvantaged students made similar strides as non-white students, with 45.3 percent and 47 percent demonstrating proficiency in English respectively.

The district’s year-old effort to boost student achievement in English and narrow the achievement gap focuses on, among other goals, improving literacy instruction and setting measurable targets for kids throughout the year, Deasy said.

The district plans to expand the intensive intervention measures to math and into the upper grades this year.

In math, non-white students experienced similar slight gains, with 25.4 percent of blacks and 30.8 percent of Latinos achieving proficiency this year, compared to 24 percent and 28 percent respectively last year.

White and Asian students outperformed students in all categories, with 73 percent of whites and 83.5 percent of Asians achieving proficiency in math this year.

Overall, district students surpassed achievement targets for Average Yearly Progress in both math and English set forth in the federal No Child Left Behind Act enacted in 2001. For 2003, the AYP target was 12 percent for children in unified school districts across the country to demonstrate proficiency in English, while12.8 percent must demonstrate proficiency in math.

The AYP achievement target for math and English increases yearly with districts required to demonstrate 100 percent proficiency by 2014. SMMUSD has set 2008 as its target date to achieve the 100 percent mark, according to Deasy.

Although local students in all categories surpassed the 2003 AYP targets for achievement in math and English, SMMUSD fell just short of meeting the AYP target for participation -- a strict 95 percent participation rate for all categories of students at all schools -- established by NCLB. As a result, the district earned an overall failing grade.

If, for example, a district falls short by even one-tenth of a percent in any category -- as SMMUSD did this year with the number of African-Americans, 94.9 percent, taking the English portion of the test -- the district fails to make AYP for the year.

The participation rate for students with disabilities in both English and math also contributed, by a wider margin, to the district missing the overall AYP participation target, hovering around 90 percent for the category in both subject areas.

Additionally, the following elementary schools did not meet the 95 percent participation rate in either math or English or both: Juan Cabrillo, Edison, McKinley, John Muir, and Santa Monica Alternative (K-8).

And in the upper grades, John Adams Middle School and Santa Monica High School failed to make the grade on participation. Further, students at John Adams did not demonstrate a high enough proficiency in math to meet AYP in achievement, the only school not to do so in either math or English.

Failing to make AYP in math or English two years in a row leads to “severe sanctions” for Title 1 schools and districts, such as SMMUSD, which receive federal funds, Deasy said. A school or district will subsequently fall into “Program Improvement,” resulting in, among other measures, spending additional scarce funds on transportation, opening up enrollment and providing supplemental services.

Districts will be identified for Program Improvement beginning in 2004-05, according to the state Department of Education Web site. If improvement is not made, schools could close, Deasy added, saying that he supported the NCLB act, but had some problems with its harsh measures if schools or districts fall short.

“The intent of the legislation is on target,” he said. “It’s 100 percent accurate and I’m behind it 100 percent.” But, he added, “where the legislation runs into difficulties is its Draconian consequences when a school fails to meet AYP.”

Deasy was optimistic about the district meeting AYP next year, saying that “the trends are definitely in the right direction” and that the district was on target for meeting its self-imposed 2008 deadline for 100 percent of students to demonstrate proficiency in math and English.

“We’re exceeding,” he said of this year’s results. “(They) tell me that this is hard work but we can do it.

“I feel very encouraged, given everything going on in the state," Deasy added. "To have gotten these gains is extraordinary.”