Pleasanton schools are exemplary by state standards Pleasanton schools are exemplary by state standards (April 01, 2005)

Gaps between ethnic groups still present, and troubling
by Rebecca Guyon

Pleasanton schools exceeded the Academic Performance Index's exemplary mark, according to a report presented at the Board of Trustees meeting last week. Despite these high marks, there is still a success gap between white and Asian students and Hispanic/Latino students at Valley View Elementary School, Pleasanton Middle School and Amador Valley High School.

"We can't just have an overall high test score," said Superintendent John Casey. "All of our students need to be doing well no matter what ethnicity or socioeconomic status, and we need to support them so they score well."

The API scores are part of the statewide accountability system that numerically measures the performance and progress of state public schools. The scores range from a low of 200 to a high of 1,000 with 800 considered exemplary. The state requires schools to set a target of 5 percent improvement for the following year. Schools that make an overall score of 800 or more are exempt from this regulation and only have to maintain a score above 800.

All of Pleasanton's schools had a score above 800 with Mohr Elementary achieving a score of 935, the highest in the district. Amador Valley High had an overall score of 818, and Foothill High had an overall score of 837. API does not measure alternative schools, so Village High School did not receive a score.

The report also showed school rankings on a scale of 1 to 10 within the state, with 10 as the highest. All Pleasanton public schools, with the exception of Alisal, received a statewide rank of 10. Alisal was ranked at 9.

The state requires a separate score be calculated for "numerically significant" ethnic and socioeconomic subgroups within each school. Whites, Asians and Hispanics were the numerically significant ethnic groups in the district, with a significant Hispanic population only at Valley View, Pleasanton Middle School and Amador.

At Valley View, Hispanic students scored 705, while white students scored 914. Asians, white and Hispanic students at Pleasanton Middle School scored 945, 884 and 762, respectively. At Amador, Asian, white and Hispanic students scored 871, 827 and 679, respectively.

Hispanic students at Amador scored the lowest in the district. Valley View's difference of 209 points between white and Hispanic students is the largest gap between two groups in the district.

"Six hundred or 700 are not acceptable scores to us," said James Gulek, Director of Assessment and Evaluation. "We are really targeting this subgroup to make sure they speed up with their counterparts."

This is the first year Hispanics have constituted a numerically significant subgroup at Pleasanton Middle School and the third year at Amador, said Gulek. A group is considered "numerically significant" if it constitutes at least 15 percent of the school's total population and consists of at least 50 students.

The state also requires subgroups comprised of 100 students or more to show improvement in the following year. Amador and Pleasanton Middle School are the only schools affected by this regulation with Hispanic populations of 152 and 100 students, respectively. The Hispanic subgroups at these schools need to show improvement by 1 point in next year's report, Gulek said.

"We are looking at what we can do to keep up the high achieving students and help bring up the lower achieving students," said Trustee Juanita Haugen.

Valley View, Pleasanton Middle School and Amador all have instituted programs specifically aimed at providing better support for Hispanic students, said Superintendent Casey. Valley View offers after-school tutorials for struggling students in conjunction with its dual immersion program.

Amador and Pleasanton Middle School offer "sheltered classes" in core subjects to help students learning English as a second language. In these classes, teachers who have a working knowledge of Spanish teach subjects such as English literature, math and history with the use of visual aids and a buddy system to ensure students are learning the necessary course work even if they are struggling with English.

The district offers two sheltered classes in English literature and history, as well as one sheltered class in math and academic support. The academic support class helps high school students prepare for their exit exams.

The API score is calculated based on a composite of the results from the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR), California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE), California Alternate Proficiency Assessment (CAPA), and California Achievement Test Sixth Edition Survey Form (CAT/6), as well as several tests that were only administered to certain grade levels. Students took these tests in May 2004. The results from those tests provide the "base scores" that students need to improve or maintain when they are tested again this year between April 26 and May 25. The district will have a report in October 2005 showing how much growth happened between the two testing periods.

Although the district is interested in its API scores and rankings, it is more effective for schools to measure their success as a district based on how much growth happens in one year, said Gulek.

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