Troubled students excluded from high school scores
Sweetwater recalculation shows test gains would have been smaller without realignment
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2010 AT 7:54 P.M.
Journalism that upholds the public trust, regularlySEND TIPSCall 619-293-2275. Fax 619-260-5094.E-mail watchdog@uniontrib.com.Follow on Twitter @sdutWatchdogBack to Watchdog indexLATEST POSTSThe state test rankings at 11 Sweetwater Union high school campuses went up 5 percent on average this year — a remarkable increase made possible in part by a controversial realignment that excluded some of the district’s most troubled students from those results.
If those students had been included, the average high school would have seen 4.3 percent growth, according to an analysis conducted by district staff in response to critics.
The alternative education students used to be included in each campus’ scores. They remain on campus, but have now been carved out for administrative purposes into a separate group called Bounce Back Independent Study High School.
That school scored 549 on California’s Academic Performance Index this year, well below the mainstream goal of 800 set by the state.
The district says the separation is for the good of the 2,200 independent study students, and had nothing to do with test scores.
Critics, including two former teachers, say the move was sleight of hand intended to scrub bad scores from each high school’s performance in a high-stakes test-score world where every point counts. Schools can face sanctions if they don’t show adequate progress each year.
The district’s own analysis of the 11 schools shows that the average campus scored 793 on the API rankings this year. Had the Bounce Back students been included in the scores, that would have been 788 instead. Either way, they say, that’s solid growth over the 756 average the year before.
At the schools that have the most Bounce Back students, the difference was more pronounced. At Castle Park High School, the state index was 812. It would have been 802 had the Bounce Back students been included. Again, district officials point to significant growth over the school’s 762 score the year before.
Sweetwater officials say their API growth is a result of district reforms and part of a trend that shows improved student achievement dating back three years.
“This is something to be proud of and this in no way deflates the gains we have made for our students,” said Diego Ochoa, Castle Park’s principal.
Maria Castilljea, the district’s executive director of curriculum and instruction, agreed, saying, “It is discouraging that somebody would discredit the work of 1,700 teachers and 200 administrators who have worked hard to close the achievement gap.”
To address the criticism, the district recalculated its state API rankings to see how inclusion of Bounce Back students would affect them. The higher rankings will remain as the official state record.
By having the Bounce Back students across the district assigned to a single principal — rather than administrators at 11 campuses — the district hopes to establish a more cohesive alternative education system.
John Brickley, an alternative education teacher who retired from the district last month, remains convinced the new Bounce Back school was a “cheap move,” designed to boost rankings at comprehensive high schools.
“These students, who are the neediest students, have been used as pawns by a district that is getting greedy about raising test scores as high as it can,” Brickley said. “The irony is that the district didn’t have to do this because the scores went up anyway. This just taints it.”
Sweetwater’s 42,000 middle and high school students made significant improvements on state tests in virtually all grades and subjects this year.
Released in August, English scores improved the most — a jump the district attributed to a new curriculum for English classes.
maureen.magee@uniontrib.com (619) 293-1369 Staff writer Ashly McGlone contributed to this report.
