BURBANK BEATS AVERAGE; SCHOOL SCORES SHORT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE.

Byline: Jennifer Hamm Staff Writer

BURBANK - Although no Burbank schools met the state's measure for high performance in the first-ever Academic Performance Index, all of the district's 16 schools ranked in the top 50 percent, scores released Tuesday show.

The rankings demonstrate that Burbank schools are above average, said David Aponik, superintendent of the Burbank Unified School District.

``Statewide, Burbank is looking pretty good,'' Aponik said.

There is concern and disappointment, however, that all schools fell below a score of 800, which the state has designated as its benchmark for excellence, said Caroline Brumm, director of student program evaluation. Each school receives a single score ranging from 200 to 1,000 based on the school's Stanford 9 test scores.

The district's top performing school, Jefferson Elementary, was the only school to rank in the top 20 percent. It earned a score of 742.

But when stacked up against similar schools, Jefferson falls into the bottom 30 percent. Along with the index score, each school is also ranked against those with students of similar ethnicities and economic background.

``It just adds a little more stress,'' said Principal Lynn Perske. ``How does Jefferson compare? There's more accountability, more comparability and therefore more stress.''

A handful of the district's top-scoring schools performed poorly when compared to similar schools.

But Perske, like many other school officials, say there are still numerous unanswered questions for the similar schools ranking. They wonder what other schools they were compared with and the range of those schools' scores.

``That's the problem,'' Brumm said. ``We don't really know what the spread is. That's the number one question we have before we get too hysterical. But it is a concern.''

Another concern educators have is how the ranking was calculated. The formula included a number of variables, including socioeconomic status, ethnicity, parents' education level and student-to-teacher ratio. But not all the data was complete when sent to the state, Brumm said.

``I know lots of districts that had missing data,'' said Brumm.

Educators will spend coming weeks identifying schools they were grouped with in an effort to understand the range of scores.

Similar schools could also be fertile ground for discovering programs that might improve student achievement in Burbank.

Ironically, the district's two underperforming schools earned among the highest rankings among similar schools.

Providencia Elementary has a score of 587 and a similar schools ranking in the top third. Disney Elementary scored 603, which is just below the state's median score of 630, but was ranked in the top 10 percent of similar schools.

As a state-designated underperforming school, Disney and Providencia can earn $25,000 from the state this year if they can reach a 5 percent improvement target the state has set for test scores. The schools are a part of a state-run program that offers financial incentives to underperforming schools that improve.

``Our teachers are going after those rewards,'' said Disney Principal Linda Reksten. ``We're pulling out all the stops to help these kids achieve.''

Teachers have been identifying at-risk students and involving parents, and will soon be devising intervention strategies to make sure the students are prepared when it comes to taking the Stanford 9 test in the spring.

Reksten, like many educators, is confident the 5 percent target set by the state can be met. Every school in the state is expected to raise their Academic Performance Index score by 5 percent of the difference between 800 and the current score.

Schools that fail to meet the target will ultimately face sanctions and those that meet it will receive rewards, such as extra money from the state.

But, she said, the focus is educating children more effectively.

``We're still shooting for as high as we can go,'' Reksten said. ``We're under such a barrage of attack from the public that it would be silly for us to just do the minimum.''

Glendale educators also say the hope their students will exceed the state-set targets this spring.

The Glendale Unified School District, which made its scores available on Monday, boasted four schools that surpassed an 800 score. Nine schools, however, scored below the state median.

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