By Eli Wolfe
Berkeley students on the lower end of the achievement gap made critical academic gains in the past year, according to a report released last week by the California Department of Education. The Academic Performance Index (API) for Socio-Economically Disadvantaged students rose by 21 points, for African American students by 16 points, and for students with disabilities by 11 points. API scores increased for Asian students by only 3 points and for white students by 2 points.
But a comparison of actual scores shows the achievement gap is still painfully wide in Berkeley. The API for white students in the district was 925, while for African American students it was 675. Hispanic or Latino students are steadily making gains, but at 766 points their score still doesn’t hit the state benchmark.
“For the API as a district we did see an achievement gain because our white students only showed a 2 point gain, whereas our African American students had a 16 point gain,” said BUSD’s director of evaluation and assessment Debbi D’Angelo. “But that doesn’t mean the work is done. That just means we’ve made some gains.”
The report reveals that Berkeley schools overall experienced a second consecutive year of growth in the state’s API. API scores are based on California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program. The target score set by the state is 800 out of a possible 1000.
The API score for the Berkeley Unified School District was 821, which reflects a 10 point increase from last year.
All but one of the BUSD schools (John Muir Elementary) ranked in the index met or exceeded the 800 target. Thirteen out of the 14 elementary and middle schools continued to score above the 800 mark, with Jefferson Elementary and Rosa Parks Environmental Science Magnet scoring in the 900 range. Nine of the those schools experienced a decline in their scores from last year. Berkeley High School continued to experience slight growth in API scores but still fell below the 800 target.
A detailed breakdown of Berkeley’s API results is available on the state Department of Education website. The table shown above is available in its original form here.
The administration at Berkeley High School has made a concentrated effort to boost participation in the STAR test so the school will continue to qualify for an API score. The results have paid off in Berkeley, but this year was not free of problems. Students in 72 schools across the state posted pictures of California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) testing material to social media sites. An investigation concluded that few of the pictures revealed test questions and students who posted these pictures were not motivated to cheat. Students who posted pictures had their scores invalidated, but the report claimed this did not affect the overall validity of school scores.
The Accountability Progress Report also measured the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) of schools, which is a federal requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). According to a statement from BUSD, the AYP targets are more difficult for schools to achieve because the percentage of students who must achieve proficient or advanced score increases every year.
Overall, the district experienced a 1.5 percent increase in mathematics and a less than 1 percent increase in English language arts. Only two Berkeley schools, Washington Elementary and Berkeley Technology Academy, met all 21 AYP targets. At the state level, only 14 percent of California’s 9,861 schools met AYP targets. Thirty percent of schools slated for Performance Improvement (PI) have API’s of 800 or higher.
This may be the last year California measures school performance with the API and AYP. A state bill is calling for the suspension of the STAR program in favor of field-testing a new set of assessments called Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress.
“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,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. “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.”
Related:
Berkeley students improve improve on 2013 STAR tests (08.12.13)
Berkeley schools show overall improvement in API results (08.31.11)
Berkeley schools show improvement in state tests (05.06.11)
Berkeley schools improve in statewide tests (09.13.10)
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