Academic Performance Index

GLENDALE — Area schools made the grade on the state’s scholastic performance criteria last year, with all but four schools seeing an increase in scores. Glendale Unified School District’s overall state Academic Performance Index jumped 11 points, from 807 last year to 818 this year. The state set a goal for each school in California to meet an academic index of at least 800, state Supt. Jack O’Connell said at a news conference Thursday at Horace Mann Elementary School.

Two Glendale Unified School District teachers will receive $5,000 in incentive funds for agreeing to teach at low-performing schools. District officials declined to release the names of the teachers but said this year's recipients teach at Columbus Elementary School and Glendale High School. Both schools were rated low-performing based on 2001 Academic Performance Index scores. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Incentive Program gives out a $20,000 merit award to teachers who have remained at a low-performing school over a four-year period since the 2000-01 school year.

A box that ran Wednesday on Page A6 of the News-Press with a story about the state Department of Education's 1999 Academic Performance Index incorrectly described statewide ranks as similar school ranks. The "statewide rank" rates schools from a low of 1 to a high of 10 based on scores from the 1999 Stanford 9 test. The "similar schools rank" compares schools of similar demographics. The following information was provided by the Glendale Unified School District.

Robert Chacon La Canada Unified School District has met the state requirements for improvement on annual exams that test students' performance on core subjects. District-wide, test scores grew by 5%. Two schools -- La Canada High School and Paradise Canyon Elementary -- did not show growth, but La Canada students' test scores on the Academic Performance Index already exceed the 800-point target set by the state, and continued improvement is difficult, district officials said.

Four Glendale elementary schools are 2004 Title 1 Academic Achievement Award winners, state officials announced Tuesday. Balboa, Columbus, Franklin and R.D. White elementary schools are among 214 elementary, middle, high and charter schools selected to receive the award. The Title 1 Achieving Schools Award Program honors high-poverty, high-achieving schools. The federal Title 1 program benefits schools where at least 50% of the student population is considered to be living at the poverty level.

R.D. White Elementary School received its No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School Award plaque and banner recently at a Blue Ribbon awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Principal Suzanne Risse and Dotti Soghomonian, a kindergarten teacher at the school, received the plaque and banner later last month. R.D. White was one of 37 California schools and 237 schools nationwide to receive the award. The Blue Ribbon Award is presented to schools that demonstrate sufficient academic progress on the Academic Performance Index and standards-based instruction, Risse said.

Gary Moskowitz Glendale Unified has shown growth on the Academic Performance Index since 1999, but district officials are concerned with what will happen when that growth levels out and schools begin to maintain or drop on the index. The typical reward for schools who do well on the standardized tests used on the index is that they get to do more work, district spokesman Vic Pallos said. "We could see schools who have worked very hard just maintaining in the near future," Pallos said.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE - It's a goal only about 12% of California schools were able to reach. Four Glendale Unified School District campuses did it and five others came within 30 points of doing so. In neighboring areas, such as Burbank Unified and the Verdugo cluster of the Los Angeles Unified School District, no schools reached the high-performance target of 800 points on the state Department of ...

The California Department of Education announced Tuesday that Mountain Avenue Elementary, Valley View Elementary, and Monte Vista Elementary have all been invited to apply for the Blue Ribbon School program, a component of the national No Child Left Behind law. Glendale Unified School District is the only district in the state to have three schools qualify to apply. The NCLB-Blue Ribbon Program honors both public and private schools that are among the top 10 percent in the state based on Adequate Yearly Progress and Academic Performance Index growth targets, said CDE Blue Ribbon spokesperson Kimberly Edwards.

Alecia Foster NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Glendale school district officials will ask the state Board of Education to waive a penalty levied against Lincoln Elementary, where a teacher was accused of helping students cheat on a standardized test. The Glendale school board unanimously approved the waiver request that will be sent to the California Board of Education for consideration. "We have good reason to believe the state board will look favorably on this," said Glendale Unified Supt.

Glendale Unified improved its overall score on the all-important Academic Performance Index that measures student achievement, according to state data released Wednesday. The overall score improved by eight points from last year's 850 mark to 858, well above the state's benchmark figure of 800, according to the California Department of Education. Mountain Avenue Elementary again was the highest scoring school in the district with 952, improving last year's tally by three points.

Recently released testing data gave Principal Anita Schackmann plenty to celebrate - Luther Middle School climbed 19 points to a score of 845 on the Academic Performance Index, the statewide measure of student achievement. In addition, four of five significant subgroups - including Latino and socio-economically disadvantaged students - at the Burbank school also posted double-digit gains on the accountability scale, commonly referred to as API, with a score of 800 as the all-important benchmark.

Glendale Unified improved its overall score to 851 for the 2010-11 school year on the Academic Performance Index, the all-important statewide measure of student achievement, according to data released Wednesday . The district score improved nine points from the year before, putting it comfortably above the benchmark score of 800 set by the state. Mountain Avenue Elementary School once again topped the list of high-performing Glendale schools, earning a score of 949, according to 2010-11 data released by the California Department of Education.

Despite all of the financial pressures facing Glendale Unified, it has been able to withstand or even deflect many of the physical punches that have led to layoffs and severe program cutbacks at neighboring districts. In fact, while other districts were cutting back, Glendale Unified has continued to buff up, expanding its venerable foreign language immersion program and significantly improving its overall standing on the state Academic Performance Index and maintaining a healthy budget reserve.

GLENDALE — Franklin Elementary School was named Thursday as one of 35 California nominees for a national honor, the state Department of Education announced. Franklin is the only school in the Glendale Unified School District to be nominated for the 2010 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which recognizes underprivileged students for outstanding academic achievement. “It’s a wonderful honor to be considered for this,” Franklin Principal Stephen Williams said.

GLENDALE — A renewed state law that allows parents to more freely transfer their children into certain campuses outside their home area could pit school districts against one another. The bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Sunday night renews a 17-year-old law that allows school districts to declare themselves “school districts of choice,” which allows students to transfer freely into their campuses from outside areas. Local school officials have criticized the law as potentially breeding unhealthy competition among districts.

GLENDALE — The dismal outcome of Tuesday’s special election could result in dramatic funding cuts to education that would jeopardize recent gains in student test scores, state schools chief Jack O’Connell said during a news conference Thursday. O’Connell was at Marshall Elementary School to release the California Department of Education’s latest report on school test results that showed a continuing rise in student performance since the state began collecting the exam data 10 years ago. Compared to a year ago, more elementary, middle and high schools meet the state’s performance targets, with the largest gain — 5.7% — happening with middle schools.

LA CRESCENTA — Clark Magnet High School was selected as one of 261 California Distinguished middle and high schools that have shown exemplary standards of education. The California Distinguished Award is the second the high school has received since 2005. The latest award recognizes accomplishments from the 2007-08 academic year. For Principal Douglas Dall, the award is a testament to hardworking students, teachers and staff who have dedicated their time to making the school excel.

GLENDALE — Area schools made the grade on the state’s scholastic performance criteria last year, with all but four schools seeing an increase in scores. Glendale Unified School District’s overall state Academic Performance Index jumped 11 points, from 807 last year to 818 this year. The state set a goal for each school in California to meet an academic index of at least 800, state Supt. Jack O’Connell said at a news conference Thursday at Horace Mann Elementary School.

Three Glendale Unified School District schools will be honored today with the Title I Academic Achievement Award, a recognition bestowed on schools that are improving the performance of low-income students. John Muir Elementary School, Woodrow Wilson Middle School and Clark Magnet High School were all named Title I Academic Achievement Award-winners for the 2007-08 school year. The state Department of Education will recognize the schools today at an awards ceremony in Los Angeles.