Redondo Beach schools scored well in comparison to other schools in statewide and similar school rankings of the Academic Performance Index, according to a report issued by the California Department of Education last week.
Four schools – Alta Vista, Beryl Heights, and Jefferson elementary schools and Parras Middle School – scored 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 in statewide rankings. Three schools – Beryl Heights, Madison Elementary, and Redondo Union High School – scored 10 in the somewhat more challenging comparison to schools with similar socioeconomic profiles.
Beryl Heights became the first RBUSD school to ever score a “10-10” two years in a row. The school also scored highest in the district, at 942. API scores range from 200 to 1,000.
Superintendent Steven Keller, who calls the comparative rankings a “no excuse” academic measure, singled out Beryl Heights for praise.
“That is impressive,” Keller said. “That is sustaining your presence at the ceiling – just staying there is difficult.”
The California Department of Education in September released the “base” API scores for state schools, a report that compares schools’ performance on a battery of standardized tests. The API, which is scored 200 to 1000, is used to measure compliance with both state standards and federal No Child Left Behind requirements. Both require that all schools reach 800 by 2014.
All RBUSD schools have exceeded this requirement for the last two years. Over the past five years, the district has improved overall from 795 to 858.
School board president Drew Gamet, who is also a teacher, said RBUSD has internal measures that are even more helpful in assessiing academic progress. But Gamet said the API’s are indicative of the district’s upward trend.
“It really shows that when teachers are comparing and being very methodical and looking at student data and making sure all students are successful – this is what you’ve got,” Gamet said. “It’s great. It shows you have teams of people that are working at a very high, harmonious level and are really having some powerful success.”
Keller took note of the fact that schools in both north and south Redondo are excelling. Schools in South Redondo had formerly been perceived as lower performing because of the greater socioeconomic and ethnic diversity. Now, schools such as Birney Elementary are among the higher performing schools in the state. Redondo Union High School, with its large and extremely diverse student population, scored a 10 in the similar school comparison and a 9 statewide.
“The north-south divide is again, in my opinion, non-existent any more, and people should just move on,” Keller said. “Whether you live in 90277 or 90278, if you are a kid, you are going to get a great education.”
Gamet said that the increases occurred despite sharp cuts to education funding in the last two years. This year, however, the district is preparing to make even more drastic cuts, possibly laying off as many as 24 teachers and increasing class sizes district-wide.
“Those cuts are going deeper and deeper,” Gamet said. “I think next year is going to be unbelievably tragic. It’s so sad – we are going to be losing teachers. That is going to hurt. It’s good to see news like this – the test scores – but this is not a positive thing that is going to be happening.”
Keller said the district has to find ways to do more with less.
“We are asking our teachers to teach larger class sizes with fewer materials,” Keller said. “Thank you, State of California.”
But he also said the district would continue to find ways to keep improving.
“We have a great core teaching group,” he said. “I don’t think anybody in our district would say we are even close to being done. We are still moving to get every school above 900.” ER
See RBUSD API results at: http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2010/2009Base_Dst.aspx?cYear=&allcds=1975341&cChoice=2009BDst
