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Temecula, Murrieta districts post top county test scores |
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Temecula and Murrieta students have once again received the highest scores on standardized tests in Riverside County, besting the region's other 21 school districts to take the county's top two spots, according to data released Thursday by state education officials.
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This is the third year running Temecula Valley Unified School District is rated No. 1 and the Murrieta Valley Unified School District placed second in the county overall, according to the California Department of Education's Academic Performance Index measuring system.
"I am absolutely thrilled with our test scores," said Temecula Superintendent Carol Leighty. "Our teachers obviously worked very hard. The kids exceeded our expectations."
The Lake Elsinore Unified School District, although several of its schools did not perform as well as required by federal guidelines, placed second countywide in terms of the improvement it showed on its test scores compared to last year's results.
"We are pretty pleased," said Lake Elsinore Superintendent Frank Passarella. "(We had) the biggest gain we have ever had in our district. We may not have the highest test scores, but we are making great gains and our teachers are doing a wonderful job."
Menifee Union School District fared about the same as last year, posting a few small gains and some dips in test scores.
But because of students failing to meet federal academic targets at some schools in the Perris Union High School District for two consecutive years, it has been put on a federal watch list for underperforming districts. This despite Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, one of the district's high schools, passing federal muster.
Measuring performance
Scores released Thursday include two ways of measuring student progress: the state's Academic Performance Index and the federal Adequate Yearly Progress report, part of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Temecula and Murrieta students have once again received the highest scores on standardized tests in Riverside County, besting the region's other 21 school districts to take the county's top two spots, according to data released Thursday by state education officials.
Complete Coverage
This is the third year running Temecula Valley Unified School District is rated No. 1 and the Murrieta Valley Unified School District placed second in the county overall, according to the California Department of Education's Academic Performance Index measuring system.
"I am absolutely thrilled with our test scores," said Temecula Superintendent Carol Leighty. "Our teachers obviously worked very hard. The kids exceeded our expectations."
The Lake Elsinore Unified School District, although several of its schools did not perform as well as required by federal guidelines, placed second countywide in terms of the improvement it showed on its test scores compared to last year's results.
"We are pretty pleased," said Lake Elsinore Superintendent Frank Passarella. "(We had) the biggest gain we have ever had in our district. We may not have the highest test scores, but we are making great gains and our teachers are doing a wonderful job."
Menifee Union School District fared about the same as last year, posting a few small gains and some dips in test scores.
But because of students failing to meet federal academic targets at some schools in the Perris Union High School District for two consecutive years, it has been put on a federal watch list for underperforming districts. This despite Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, one of the district's high schools, passing federal muster.
Measuring performance
Scores released Thursday include two ways of measuring student progress: the state's Academic Performance Index and the federal Adequate Yearly Progress report, part of the No Child Left Behind Act.
The state index measures how students fared on a series of tests given last spring, posting a score between 200 and 1,000 for each school, with 800 as the target. The scores offer parents and potential home buyers a look at whether schools have improved scores from last year and create accountability standards for educators.
Schools that do not meet the 800 benchmark are expected to improve each year by 5 percent of the difference between the previous year's score and 800.
"It is great to see Southwest Riverside County has two districts with districtwide APIs over 800," said Guy Romero, assistant superintendent of educational services with Murrieta. "It's reflective of great schools with passionate teachers and focused administrators ---- and families who send us great kids. It shows public education works and works well."
Statewide results show California's average API score has grown to 720, an 11-point gain from the 2004-05 school year. However, only 52 percent of the schools met all of their API growth targets this year, a decline from last year's 68 percent, they said.
Most local schools showed moderate to substantial API gains this year, but some campuses decreased their scores.
Ten mainstream Southwest County schools also failed to meet their so-called federal Adequate Yearly Progress because student groups at the campuses, such as those from non-English backgrounds or students with disabilities, did not meet the required student proficiency target, officials said.
No Child Left Behind boasts the goal of having all students testing proficient in math and English by 2014.
While all schools are included in the federal report, only campuses receiving extra federal funding --- known as Title I funds ---- for serving high populations of poor and minority students face required improvements if not enough students perform at grade level.
Schools receiving no federal money have no ramifications. Title I schools must comply with improvement mandates or risk losing that funding.
'Program Improvement'
While individual schools can be dubbed underperforming by the feds, there are two Southwest County districts as a whole under federal scrutiny for their test scores: Lake Elsinore Unified and, for the first time this year, the Perris Union High School District.
Once on this watch list, the schools and districts must offer more student and staff tutoring, create more academic intervention programs and allow students to transfer schools.
If the school does not make enough progress, administrative changes are called for. One of the hardest-hitting ramifications for a failing school is a complete overhaul of its overall academic structure.
The Perris district this year improved its API score from 650 to 668, an 18-point gain, but some of its schools' scores affected the entire district, sending it into what the feds call "program improvement."
"I'd say we are making great growth," said Leslie Robinson, Perris' director of learning support services, pointing to the increases in some schools' test scores. "We are continuing to focus our efforts on individual student achievement."
Paloma Valley High School saw its API score drop two points to 744. Robinson said the high school struggled a bit this year with its special education population, but that overall it's close to the "magic 800" target. But as part of the Perris district, the Menifee high school campus faces the same federal improvement mandates as the district's other schools, Robinson said.
"Those federal regulations are not bad for kids," she said. "We've been following them for the last couple years."
Generally, the Perris and Lake Elsinore school districts enroll more students from non-English-speaking backgrounds and students from low-income families than other Southwest County districts. Both groups typically score lower on standardized tests.
The Lake Elsinore district is going on its second year of program improvement, but Passarella said those days are numbered.
The district began a combination of new training for educators and administrators, testing changes for students and more collaboration among teachers over the last year, and those efforts' effects are evident in test scores, he said.
The district improved its API score by 22 points to 723 ---- the second largest districtwide API gain in the county this year.
Nevertheless, three of the 10 schools in the district that failed to meet federal targets this year have already been in program improvement for several consecutive years: Elsinore Elementary School and Elsinore and David A. Brown middle schools.
"Elsinore Elementary is a school we continue to need to have a greater and greater focus on," Passarella said, adding that there was a leadership turnover there and that officials have rewritten the school's governance plan to bring about a turnaround.
As for the two middle schools, they posted significant API gains, but some of their student populations, such as those from non-English backgrounds, didn't perform well enough, he said.
"It sends a mixed message when they make significant gains in API and don't make AYP," Passarella said. "It doesn't add all up."
Top-rated school districts
Nearly all the Temecula and Murrieta schools met the state and federal academic targets, continuing an established trend in the two districts, which mainly enroll students from families with moderate to wealthy incomes.
The Temecula district increased its API score seven points to 820, the highest districtwide score in the county. The district also boasted the highest schoolwide API score in the county ---- an 899 at Abby Reinke Elementary.
The vast majority of the district's schools were well above the state's 800 API target. All met their federal academic benchmarks, too.
Leighty said the district is very pleased with the results, but that it will continue to push for more improvement.
Officials have plans to increase administrators' use of database software to help them analyze students' performance by age, gender, school, class and other demographic factors to ensure pupils are meeting, maintaining and whenever possible exceeding state and federal academic targets.
Directly north of Temecula in the Murrieta school district, students also fared very well. The district increased its API score four points to 811, the second-highest districtwide score in the county. One of its schools, Cole Canyon Elementary, tied with another campus in Corona-Norco for the second highest schoolwide API score in the county of 898.
While nearly all the district's schools met or exceeded state and federal academic targets, some campuses did post decreases on their API scores.
"Staying above 800 takes a concentrated effort," Romero said. "You can expect to see slight dips every so often. What would worry us is if we started to see three-year trends where scores continued to slide."
He said officials are very proud that all middle and elementary schools are above 800. What's more, the district has two out of the top three high school scores in the county, "and these schools compare favorably to academically strong Orange and San Diego County high schools with similar demographics," he said.
Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or
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2006 2005 English- Math
Growth Base Language Arts
LAKE ELSINORE UNIFIED
Elementary Schools
Butterfield 718 708 No No
Collier (William) 739 749 Yes Yes
Cottonwood Canyon 810 817 Yes Yes
Elsinore 684 639 No No
Graham (Donald) 821 792 Yes Yes
Hayman (Jean) 722 727 Yes Yes
Luiseno 821 792 Yes Yes
Machado 685 670 No No
Railroad Canyon 694 702 No No
Reagan (Ronald) 761 n/a No Yes
Rice Canyon 849 855 Yes Yes
Tuscany Hills 854 815 Yes Yes
Wildomar 770 743 Yes Yes
Withrow 790 804 Yes Yes
Middle Schools
Brown (David A.) 698 677 No No
Canyon Lake 727 718 Yes Yes
Elsinore 654 632 No No
Terra Cotta 742 713 No No
High Schools
Elsinore High 708 667 Yes Yes
Lakeside High 696 n/a No No
Temescal Canyon 704 673 Yes Yes
Small Schools
Gordon Kiefer Ind. Study 721* 656* Yes Yes
Alternative Schools
Ortega High 506* 524* No Yes
Tri-valley Community Day 466* 490* No Yes
MENIFEE UNION
Elementary Schools
Freedom Crest Elementary 786 768 Yes Yes
Kirkpatrick (Callie) 798 811 Yes Yes
Menifee 742 717 Yes Yes
Morrison (Chester W.) 795 767 Yes Yes
Oak Meadows 821 n/a Yes Yes
Ridgemoor 805 815 Yes Yes
Middle Schools
Bell Mountain 755 769 Yes Yes
Menifee 715 721 No No
Small Schools
Santa Rosa Academy 761* Yes Yes
MURRIETA VALLEY UNIFIED
Elementary Schools
Alta Murrieta 806 820 Yes Yes
Antelope Hills 849 n/a Yes Yes
Avaxat 823 827 Yes Yes
Buchanan (Daniel N.) 841 848 Yes Yes
Cole Canyon 898 891 Yes Yes
Curran (E. Hale) 810 818 Yes Yes
Monte Vista 819 836 Yes Yes
Murrieta 861 843 Yes Yes
Rail Ranch 853 858 Yes Yes
Tovashal 847 835 Yes Yes
Middle Schools
Shivela 807 815 Yes Yes
Thompson 827 829 Yes Yes
Warm Springs 801 793 Yes Yes
High Schools
Murrieta Valley 785 778 Yes Yes
Vista Murreita 780 749 Yes Yes
Small Schools
Tenaja Canyon Acad. 695* 713* No Yes
Alternative Schools
Creekside High 602* 558* No Yes
PERRIS UNION HIGH
Middle Schools
California Military Inst. 683 789 No Yes
High Schools
Paloma Valley High 744 746 Yes Yes
Small Schools
Choice 2000 On-line 614* 603 No Yes
TEMECULA VALLEY UNIFIED
Elementary Schools
Alamos 878 866 Yes Yes
Barnett (Ysabel) 851 834 Yes Yes
Crowne Hill 889 n/a Yes Yes
French Valley 848 850 Yes Yes
Jackson (Helen Hunt) 835 823 Yes Yes
LaVorgna (Susan) 830 n/a Yes Yes
Nicolas Valley 873 854 Yes Yes
Paloma 880 885 Yes Yes
Pauba Valley 884 882 Yes Yes
Rancho 890 885 Yes Yes
Red Hawk 880 873 Yes Yes
Reinke (Abby) 899 889 Yes Yes
Sparkman (Joan F.) 836 820 Yes Yes
Temecula 811 783 Yes Yes
Temecula Learning Ctr. 854 796 Yes Yes
Temecula Preparatory 863 872 Yes Yes
Tobin (Tony) 894 n/a Yes Yes
Vail 816 846 Yes Yes
Vintage Hills 887 869 Yes Yes
Middle Schools
Bella Vista 798 777 Yes Yes
Day (James L.) 811 797 Yes Yes
Gardner (Erle Stanley) 829 818 Yes Yes
Margarita 828 835 Yes Yes
Temecula 844 829 Yes Yes
Vail Ranch 830 808 Yes Yes
High Schools
Chaparral High 769 769 Yes Yes
Great Oak 802 817 Yes Yes
Temecula Valley 759 763 Yes Yes
Small Schools
Rancho Santa Rosa 609* 572* Yes Yes
Alternative Schools
Rancho Vista 550* 460* Yes Yes
KEY
n/a = This school opened after the 2005 API tests were administered
* = This API is calculated for a small school. APIs based on small numbers of students are less reliable and therefore should be carefully interpreted.
Source: California Department of Education
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