Schools score fairly well
Mid-Valley schools overall did fairly well in the Annual Performance Index scoring, released Friday by the California State Department of Education.
The API is a numeric index that ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. The 2005 results established the current baseline and academic growth targets for each school's academic performance.
A school's annual growth target is set at 5 percent of the difference between the school's base API and the statewide performance target of 800, which means the target or goal changes each year.
If schools do not hit their required growth targets, they are placed on an improvement program and monitored by the state until they have increased by the required number two years in a row.
For example, if a school's target growth number was 3, and scores actually increased by 15, the school surpassed their target. If the scores decreased and the school only hit 2 growth points, then they would be monitored.
Marysville Joint Unified and Yuba City Unified both averaged well in their results.
Arboga, Cedar Lane, Johnson Park, Linda and Olivehurst elementary schools surpassed their target growth exponentially - Arboga leading the pack with a 57-point growth when they needed only to grow by 3.
Bridge Street, Park Avenue, West Walton and Butte Vista elementary schools also increased by leaps and bounds, with Bridge Street topping out at 60 growth points when it needed just 10. Browns Elementary in Sutter County also leapt forward with 39 points when only 1 was required.
The districts did lose some ground at a few schools, including Ella Elementary in MJUSD, dropping 22 points when it needed to grow by seven points; and Dobbins Elementary, which dropped by 57 points. The growth target was not provided by the state.
Yuba City Unified saw some lost ground as well, but only at two schools: Twin Rivers Charter Academy and Gray Avenue Middle School, which lost 26 and 13 points, respectively.
The 2005-06 results show the state's average API score has grown to 720, an 11-point gain from the 2004-05 school year, moving closer to the state goal of 800.
The median score for all schools also increased, growing from 714 in 2003 to 745 in 2006. However, only 52 percent of the schools met all of their API growth targets this year, a decline from last year's 68 percent.
Performance targets and scores in Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties.
Appeal-Democrat reporter Kymm Mann can be reached at 749-4707 or kmann@appeal-democrat.com.
