Capistrano Unified School District API Score Rises 13 Points -- Updated

From the District; we'll start sorting through scores when they become public:

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO—The Capistrano Unified School District remains the state’s highest achieving large school district, Academic Performance Index (API) scores released today by the California Department of Education indicate.

The District’s API score rose to 875, a 13-point increase from 2010. Of the District’s 54 traditional schools, 24 scored better than 900, which is considered an elite score. Another 51 scored above the state goal of 800, and every school in the District scored above 775.

“I can’t describe how proud I am of our students and their teachers,” Board President Jack R. Brick said. “These results validate the intense focus on instruction the Board has demanded. Under the leadership of Superintendent Joe Farley and with the support of our entire community, Capistrano Unified continues to be a leader in preparing students for success after graduation.”

When compared to other districts in the state, CUSD fared quite well. Among large districts, those with more than 35,000 students, CUSD has the top API score. Among the largest 100 school districts in the state, there are just six that scored higher.

“These numbers prove that this is one of the top school systems in the state,” Superintendent Joe Farley said. “We cannot succeed without the fantastic support our schools and students receive from the community. While we expect great results, these numbers are truly an indication of the hard work our teachers and instructional leaders have put into the development, design, and delivery of instruction.”

Chaparral Elementary School had an API of 948, the highest score in the District. For middle schools, Ladera Ranch earned the highest score with a 935. Tesoro was the highest scoring high school with an 883. Again, all of the District’s high schools surpassed the 800 mark; and, for the first time, all of the district’s middle schools surpassed 800.

Several schools saw large increases in their scores, led by Wood Canyon Elementary School in Aliso Viejo with a 44-point gain from 2010. Wood Canyon raised its API from 802 to 846. At the middle school level, Shorecliffs Middle School in San Clemente saw its score increase by 40 points, from 817 to 857. San Juan Hills High School experienced a 25-point increase, moving its score from 810 to 835. Just three schools saw a decrease.

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

The API is a single number, ranging from a low of 200 to a high of 1000, which reflects performance level, based on the results of statewide testing. Its purpose is to measure the academic performance and growth of schools. The API was established in 1999 by legislation that created a new academic accountability system for K-12 public education in California. The API is calculated by converting a student’s performance on statewide assessments across multiple content areas into points on the API scale. These points are then averaged across all students and all tests. The result is the API.

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Here's a link to finding the scores for your own school

Here's a list of the three cities we cover - some impressive gains in English-learning ...

Download South API Scores

Comments

[A friend]

OT: Guess what! A Patch reporter (Jenna) crashed the funeral of the young man killed on Del Obispo recently.

http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com/articles/crash-victim-always-made-them-laugh

A new level of tackiness for Patch! Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

[proud Shorecliffs supporter]

Way to go Shorecliffs!!! Kenny Moe has worked tirelessly during his tenure as principal and this 40 point gain is a testament to his hard work, the incredible hard work of the teachers at Shorecliffs, and of coarse, the students and parents. Way to go Team Shorecliffs!!!

[shelly]

Oxford prep in chino has very high test scores and this was the first year. According to the Star test results 2011 site out of the 682 kids tested only 2 students were classified as economically disadvantaged and only 21 were English learners out of 682 students.

[shelly]

The teachers and administrators at all the school in CUSD should be congratulated. Great job and thanks for all your hard work!

Also to add on to my previous post Oxford Prep Academy in Chino is located at what was El Rancho Elementary. According to the Star results of 2009 out of the 382 students tested 333 were classified as economically disadvantaged and 179 were classified as English Learners. Where are all these kids now?

[SCHS Fan]

Well Shelly - the people that live around Oxford Prep in Chino for some reason either didn't apply or didn't get accepted or maybe even didn't know they could apply! Gee - wonder how that happened? I also wonder how many economically disadvantaged and/or English Learners will be at their new location at Barcelona Hills Elementary.

[Michael]

If the board thinks they have ANYTHING to do with these scores they are only fooling themselves. The teachers and staff are the ones responsible for this DESPITE the boards best efforts.

Congrats CUSD teachers and staff!!!

[Rhetorick]

Students and parents have a lot to do with it too. But your right, the board doesn't have jack to do with this.

[Paid In Change]

I, for one, have been better able to focus on my classroom with a Board willing to stop the revolving door at the top, stop driving talented administrators out of the district, stop sacrificing my colleagues to pay lawyers and pay-off friends, stop the anti-CUSD dialogue in the press, and stop asking me to pay for what local taxpayers are not able to fund. A Board that values and respects teachers and allows them to focus on their classrooms should be part of the celebration.

[Michael]

@ Rhetorick,

You are correct. It starts at home first and foremost. Congrats to the Parents and Students as well.

@ PIC,

Good leaders empower their subordinates, take direction from them encourage open dialog and admit they do not have all the answers and are learning constantly as well.

This has been sorely missing fro a long long time from CUSD.

Everyone on the board needs to shut up and listen for once and take direction from the community and it's staff instead of telling everyone how things are gonna be.

I guess what I'm trying to say is they need to ask what is needed instead of telling everyone what they think is best.

Michael

[SCHS Fan]

Michael,
You obviously have not been to a board meeting since December 1. Yes, there were a majority of board members in the past that did not understand or want the best for our district. However, while there are still two board members that do not seem to have the best interests of students, families or teachers, luckily they are now not the majority. Many, many people helped make that a reality (guess you didn't realize that your vote counted). I do hope that come next September you are more educated about who is running for board positions and who has the best interests of the students and teachers at the forefront. And maybew attend a board meeting or two to see what is happening.