Manhattan Beach Unified School District saw a steady growth in the 2012 Academic Performance Index [API] test scores released last week, which brought the district’s overall mark to an all-time high of 937 out of 1,000.
This marks the second year that all seven schools in the district scored above the 900 mark, surpassing the statewide performance target of 800.
Six MBUSD schools increased their scores, with Grand View Elementary marking the most impressive leap of 13 points to reach a new high of 970. Aurelia Pennekamp Elementary showed the only decline in the district with a five-point drop.
Carolyn Seaton, the district’s executive director of educational services, said she largely credits the emphasis that the district is placing on math, science, technology and engineering.
With funding from Chevron through the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation [MBEF], Manhattan Beach elementary schools have been offering science electives outside of the regular science classes. In addition, the MBEF funds an instructional assistant for science labs at the high school level, Seaton said.
“The combination of all these efforts has really been demonstrated through our science scores,” she said. “Obviously you never want to base major decisions on one piece of data, but looking at the data over time for trends and patterns, we’re very pleased.”
The API, issued biannually by the California Department of Education under the Public Schools Accountability Act, measures the academic performance of individual schools and districts across the state. The index ranges from 200 to 1,000 and is determined by student performance on a number of statewide assessments under the Standardized Testing and Reporting [STAR] program. For tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders, California High School Exit Examinations [CAHSEE] results are also included in the API.
With a three-point improvement this year, Mira Costa High School continued its hike above the 900 mark for the second year in a row.
“I think it’s an accurate reflection of our academic performance,” Mira Costa principal Ben Dale said. “We continue to do what we’ve always done, and that’s having great teachers and motivating students.”
The API report also breaks down scores by subgroups based on race, socioeconomic status, disabilities and English learning as a second language.
Among the various student groups in MBUSD, African-American and socioeconomically disadvantaged students showed the biggest improvements in their scores, jumping 9 points and 10 points respectively.
All but two schools in the district met the state growth target in every criterion: Mira Costa and Manhattan Beach Middle School [MBMS] each fell short of meeting the growth target of five points for students with disabilities, with scores declining four and 17 points respectively.
“Learning can often be more challenging for students with disabilities, so if we can intervene and modify curriculum or provide them with a different means of support, then they can access the curriculum too,” Seaton said. “So that’s definitely gonna be an area of focus for us.”
She added: “In fact, [MBMS principal John Jackson] is going to meet with me and drill down into the data deeper to see how we can better meet the needs of these students.”
