SCHOOLS EXPECT TO IMPROVE; SIMI OFFICIALS NOT STUNNED BY SCORES.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Although most of the district's campuses fell short of the mark on the Academic Performance Index scores released last week, Simi Valley school district administrators have expressed confidence in improving next year.

Just three of the 20 elementary schools in Simi Valley Unified School District scored higher than the state's target of 800 points. The 17 other grammar schools - as well as the three middle school and three high school campuses - came up short.

School district officials said the API scores - comparisons among public schools based on Stanford 9 tests - came as little surprise because they already knew how they compared with other schools.

Administrators and teachers began working on improving their showing in standard subjects last spring when the Stanford 9 results came out.

``High expectations for all students and how can we support staff to help students meet those high expectations is a theme for this district,'' said Rebecca Wetzel, Simi Valley's director of programs and assessment. ``We truly believe that, from the Board of Education on down.''

Although the highest API score possible is 1,000, the state set 800 as the goal for each campus. Hollow Hills, Vista and Wood Ranch Elementary schools reached that target.

Scoring in the 700s were Atherwood, Big Springs, Garden Grove, Katherine, Madera, Simi, Township and White Oak elementary schools; Hillside, Sinaloa and Valley View middle schools; and Santa Susana and Simi Valley high schools.

Royal High and Berylwood, Crestview, Justin, Knolls, Abraham Lincoln, Mountainview, Parkview Center, Santa Susana and Sycamore elementary schools each earned scores in the 600s.

Those ranking lower than 800 were given goals for next year that are 1 to 10 points higher than the 1999 scores. If the targets are met, the schools can apply for up to $150 per student to use as they wish. If the schools fail, they may face sanctions.

``The best part of the API is that they have provided reasonable growth targets,'' Wetzel said. ``It's unreasonable to expect every school to be at 800 next year. Some short-term planning will be very valuable for teachers, parents and kids.''

Elroy Peterson, principal at Berylwood Elementary School, said he is sure his campus will be meet its goal of raising its score from 616 to 625.

``The instruction here has always been geared toward improving children's understanding of the concept, but some of the standards may be a little different than what we may have emphasized in the past,'' he said.

``So we'll be emphasizing those state standards.''

Wetzel said the district has been trying to relate its teaching methods and curriculum to the standards being evaluated by the statewide test.

For instance, teachers reviewed their lesson plans to determine which topics were valuable but wouldn't help them with their scores.

``We're suggesting to think about the lesson and instead of teaching it now, teach it a week before Christmas when kids' attention isn't quite as powerful or in June or before spring break,'' Wetzel said. ``When you have prime teaching time, you think about what you're teaching.''

Educators said the schools that scored in the 600s are primarily heterogeneous, with students who need a variety of different teaching methods to learn. So the district also is looking at buying instructional materials to better meet the variety of learning needs.

Rob Hunter is principal at Parkview Center School, which has the goal of getting from 653 to 660 next year. He said the API will not change what the school is already doing for its students.

``We'll look at distinct curricular standards, evaluate where we need more emphasis,'' he said. ``We have a lot of second-language learners so we'll do as much as we can to develop language mastery as well as academic content skills.''

Wetzel said a key to a school's success will be parental involvement and teaching parents how to be more successful in the classroom.

``We have them for six hours in the day, but if the idea is it's OK to sit and play a video game or watch TV even if you haven't had their homework done, it sends them a message that homework isn't that important,'' Wetzel said.