District, schools receive latest report card from state
By Eliav Appelbaum Acorn Staff Writer

Five years into academic testing initiated by the No Child Left Behind Act, Simi Valley Unified School District continues to show steady improvement.

And for the first time, Simi Unified received a score above the statewide target of 800. The district earned an 802 on the Academic Performance Index (API) based on student test scores, according to results released last Friday by the California Department of Education.

"Any time you show growth, I think that's a very positive result," said Bill Waxman, the director of secondary education in the district.

All three public high schools and three middle schools improved their API scores, while three of the six received scores above 800.

Fifteen of the 21 elementary schools scored above 800. Even though six failed to reach California's target, five improved their results from last year.

Simi Unified has improved every year since receiving a 770 in 2003 when testing began.

The API scores are gleaned chiefly from standardized tests students take, including the California Achievement Test and the California High School Exit Exam.

Simi Unified had a little more trouble when it came to API target scores that also reflect the achievement of four subgroups within each school. Improvement goals are set for ethnic, socioeconomic, English as a second language and students with disabilities subgroups.

Fourteen of the 27 schools in the district, including all three middle schools- Hillside, Sinaloa and Valley View- didn't meet API targets.

"I think we are always looking to do better," Waxman said. "You never sit back and go, 'This is great. Our job is done.' You take a look at the growth you made and you try to define areas where you can do better and you use that as a goal to move forward for the next year."

Hillside had the biggest jump among secondary schools on the API test, increasing 21 points to 777 this year. Sinaloa improved from 796 to 810, while Valley View moved up four points to 820.

Although Santa Susana High School was the only high school to score above 800, moving to 821 this year from 806 last year, Simi Valley and Royal are creeping closer to the state's goal. Simi jumped up to 781 from 769, while Royal scored a 773, an increase of 7 points over 2006.

Berylwood Elementary made the biggest leap of any school in the district, improving its score by 40 points to 714.

First-year Arroyo principal Nancy Mason, who spent the last six years as principal at Berylwood, was ecstatic to learn about Berylwood's progress.

"It's like giving birth," Mason said. "It was a team effort. We made some changes. We reconfigured the way we grouped the children. We were building learning on top of relationships and engaging the students to take responsibility for their education . . . and it worked."

Last year, Berylwood broke the school into three smaller academies in each of the three buildings. Nearly every teacher changed rooms to make the academy system functional, and all needed to adjust their methods to better instruct about 350 English language learners.

"They have to learn the language as well as the curriculum," Mason said about her former students who spoke English as a second language. "We did a huge language extension. We taught English as a second language, and we upped our language for everybody at the school to learn academic English.

"Academic English is the kind of English that gets in the way of taking a test. If a student reads, 'Read the passage and answer the questions,' and the student doesn't know what 'passage' means, then they're not going to read it. We couldn't assume that the children knew something; we had to constantly check. You really have to get into the kid's head to find out why they don't understand something. It's like peeling an onion and getting to the root of every child.

"I'm so thrilled for the teachers because they worked so hard. And I'm thrilled for those kids."

Other elementary schools improving the most from last year include Garden Grove (18), Mountain View (14), Santa Susana (10) and Hollow Hills (7).

Vista Elementary had the highest API result within the district with a 925. Hollow Hills was next at 911. Wood Ranch (897) Big Springs (896), Madera (873), Sycamore (865), White Oak (859) and Atherwood (852) also scored high.

Even though Madera achieved a high score and maintained schoolwide and state goals, its result showed a decrease of 28 points this year. Scores fell at other Simi Valley schools in 2007, including Katherine (-22), Knolls (-15) and Atherwood (-14) elementary schools.

One could analyze the test scores in so many different ways, Waxman said, that it's important to note the API is simply a barometer for schools and teachers to better help students.

"You have to keep in mind, (the API test) is a moving target," Waxman said. "You don't have the same players every year. Eighth-graders who graduate move on. A group of sixthgraders that weren't there before are coming in. Year after year it's about tweaking around the edges to get the continued growth. Each year, you almost have to start from square one."