Martinez Schools and District Score Above State Average

A total of eight Martinez schools boasted an Academic Performance Index (API) score above the state target of 800; six in the Martinez Unified School District (MUSD), and two in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD). A record 49 percent of California schools met or exceeded the state’s API target last year, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced Wednesday.

Test scores are up, graduation rates are up, and MUSD has an average of 832, up 12 points from last year.

In MUSD, the scores were:

• Alhambra High School 814, down one point from last year;
• Martinez Jr. High 846, up 24 points;
• John Muir Elementary 830, up 44 points;
• John Swett Elementary 905, up nine points;
• Morello Park Elementary 909, up 15 points.
• Las Juntas did not have an API score this year, due to testing irregularity.

In MDUSD, the average is 786, up two points from last year. MDUSD schools that serve Martinez students were:

• College Park High School 785, down 18 points from last year;
• Valley View Middle School 831, up three points;
• Hidden Valley Elementary School 895, up 44 points.

Both districts also fell below the state target for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) — the federal No Child Left Behind target for students scoring at or above proficiency — failing to meet proficiency targets in English and math. 

Torlakson argued in a press release that the 913 schools statewide identified as "failing" are the result of flawed federal standards, rather than academic deficiency. The inconsistencies between rating systems are sometimes highly contradictory.

“I applaud the hard work our students, teachers, parents, school employees and administrators are doing to improve — even in the face of severe cuts to school funding,” Torlakson said in a statement. “At school after school, and among every significant ethnic group, California’s students are performing better than ever. The failure here is in our politics, not our public schools.”

California’s 2010-11 Accountability Progress Report, which provides results of both state and federal school accountability systems, came less than a week after Torlakson's letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan requesting immediate relief from the flawed policies of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Both accountability systems are based upon results from the statewide Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program, which showed nine consecutive years of rising scores among California students, and from the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE).

The report shows that statewide, 55 percent of elementary schools, 43 percent of middle schools and 28 percent of high schools met or surpassed the state API target of 800, with the proportion of schools making the target rising 3 percentage points from last year, from 46 percent to 49 percent. 

But problems arise in AYP goals. Each state defines what it considers to be a proficient level of performance for students in English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics. California is widely recognized for having some of the most rigorous standards in the nation.

The number of schools in the state meeting AYP targets declined from the previous year, with 35 percent of elementary schools, 18 percent of middle schools and 41 percent of high schools reaching AYP goals for 2011, dropping by 5 percentage points, 8 percentage points, and 1 percentage point, respectively. 

NCLB requires schools, school districts, and county offices of education that receive federal Title I funds and do not make AYP criteria for two consecutive years to be identified for Program Improvement (PI). For the 2011-12 school year, 913 newly identified schools were identified for PI. Eighty-five schools exited from PI after making AYP for two consecutive years, with a total of 3,892 schools in PI status. Schools in PI are subject to a five-year timeline of intervention activities. 

In Torlakson’s letter to Duncan, Torlakson proposed that California be allowed to freeze the imposition of sanctions and mandatory identifications for the coming school year at last year’s levels.