Superintendent: Schools Countywide Show Gains on Performance Evaluations

RIVERSIDE - The Academic Performance Index score for Riverside Unified School District schools -- summarizing students' performance on a series of tests -- rose 7 points in 2011-12, while the score for Palm Springs Unified School District schools was up 15 points, though both districts were below the state target.

RUSD's score went from 781 to 788, and PSUD's from 733 to 748. The statewide API score increased by 10 points, from 778 last year to 788, according to figures released today by the California Department of Education.

The scores range from 200 to 1,000, with a performance target of 800.

According to the state, 53 percent of California schools met or exceeded the 800-point bar in 2011-12, up four percentage points from the previous year.

API reflects growth in student achievement from one year to the next and is determined by results on the California Standards Tests in English, math, history/social science and science, and the California High School Exit Exam.

''In the real terms of the state's Academic Performance Index, Riverside County students continued to score gains in 2012,'' county Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young said. ''Our students registered a six-point year-over- year API improvement, third best of any California county with 10,000 or more graduates.''

Young said the federal component of the API -- the Adequate Yearly Progress standard -- reveals signs of slow or no progress in some schools. He also worried that the state's new School Quality Snapshot, unveiled today, might misrepresent how well some students are doing.

''The snapshot perpetuates the notion that students who score 'proficient and above' in English, math and science are meeting an important benchmark,'' the superintendent said. ''Yet there's mounting evidence that a 'proficient' rating doesn't guarantee a high school graduate is prepared to succeed at college level work. We need standards with real-world meaning.''

The county's highest-scoring elementary schools on the 2011-12 API were:

-- Alamos Elementary, in the Temecula Valley Unified School District, at 951;

-- George Washington Carver Elementary in the Desert Sands Unified School District, at 927;

-- Ysabel Barnett Elementary in Temecula Valley, at 927;

-- Kennedy Elementary in RUSD, at 926; and

-- Crowne Hill Elementary in Temecula Valley, at 926.

Statewide, 59 percent of elementary schools, 49 percent of middle schools and 30 percent of high schools met the state API benchmark.

Elementary school scores statewide increased by 7 points to 815, while middle schools jumped 14 points to 792 and high schools increased 11 points to 752.

''We've set a high bar for schools and they have more than met the challenge, despite the enormous obstacles that years of budget cuts have put in their way,'' state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said. ''The incredible efforts of teachers, administrators, school employees, parents and students should serve as an inspiration to us all. While there's still more work to do, California's schools have earned a vote of confidence.''