SMALL GAIN FOR LAUSD DESPITE RISE IN API SCORES, DISTRICT STILL LAGS STATE AVERAGE.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

Los Angeles Unified schools showed a modest increase in standardized tests this year with 56 percent meeting federal benchmarks in English and math - still lagging behind the statewide average, according to figures released Tuesday by the state Department of Education.

Statewide, nearly two thirds of schools met Adequate Yearly Progress targets to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act, which aims to have all students proficient in math and English by the year 2014.

In the San Fernando Valley, elementary and senior high schools outperformed the rest of the district but middle schools - by far the lowest achievers - were just as bad.

Still, the LAUSD was up four percentage points overall and outpaced average statewide gains on the Academic Performance Index, which accounts for about a quarter of the AYP results.

But in other areas, including minimum proficiency requirements and graduation rates, the district fared poorly. L.A. Unified's graduation rate fell 4 percentage points to 67.6 percent, and just 9.7 percent of the district's students with disabilities tested proficient in language arts.

``We obviously made some gains, but we didn't make enough,'' said Superintendent Roy Romer. ``The very clear message is we did not (see) the increase in high school that we needed to.''

The state's August progress report is designed to let parents know whether their child's campus is underperforming before the school year begins, which is Sept. 9 for most of the district's 750,000 students.

Though all schools are held to the federal goals, failing to meet the benchmark only affects Title I schools, which receive extra money because they serve high percentages of low-income students.

Sanctions range from allowing parents to transfer their students to other campuses to turning the school over to the government. Schools facing such sanctions will not be identified until October.

Nearly 70 percent of LAUSD's 480 elementary schools met AYP goals, compared with only 8 percent of middle schools and 19 percent of high schools.

In the San Fernando Valley, about 77 percent of elementary schools, 7 percent of middle schools and 47 percent of high schools met the targets.

School board President Jose Huizar said the latest round of scores shows that drastic change is needed.

``I have mixed feelings about our scores,'' Huizar said. ``For us to close that gap, there are no easy answers. We can't continue to do things as we have been doing.''

Romer pointed to LAUSD's scores on the Academic Performance Index, which rose by 13 points to 635 this year - faster than the state's 10-point gain to 693. The goal is 800.

``We've got a unique circumstance in the urban area of Los Angeles,'' Romer said. ``We did better than the state ... It's the rate at which we're closing the gap which is significant to me.''

About 70 percent of Los Angeles Unified's 750,000 students are economically disadvantaged and more than 40 percent are learning to speak English as a second language.

The district met 43 of the 46 standards it needed to achieve adequate yearly progress - failing only on graduation rates and special education performance. All other subgroups, including economically disadvantaged students and English-language learners, reached the minimum targets.

``It's quite good news for Los Angeles Unified,'' said Esther Wong, the district's testing coordinator.

Improving the performance of special needs students will be key to the district's success, said Julie Fabrocini, elementary director of CHIME Charter Elementary School, a Woodland Hills school that serves 20 percent special education students.

CHIME Charter saw its API jump 79 points this year to 717 - one of the biggest gains in Los Angeles Unified.

The LAUSD needs to focus on teaching special-needs students test-taking techniques and making sure they have the test modifications, such as more time or larger print, that they need to succeed, she said.

``I think the district has had a very successful push to include these kids in the state test,'' she said. ``Now they can regroup and look at this.''

Schools that receive federal Title I funds face ``program improvement'' sanctions if they do not make AYP for two consecutive years in a specific area, which includes math, language arts, participation rates or graduation rates.

Sun Valley Middle School is one of nine in Los Angeles Unified and only 12 schools in the state in danger of entering Year 5 of Program Improvement, when federal law requires schools to plan for massive governance restructuring. Sun Valley has already worked with the state to implement sweeping changes that will count toward the requirement.

Principal Jeff Davis, who was assigned to the 2,857-student campus in February 2002, said attendance, morale and test scores are all on the upswing. The school's API increased 30 points to 586 this year, but the school failed to meet the AYP because of low performance among special-needs, English-language learners and socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

``I don't look at anything but positive with these scores ... But we'll do whatever they ask us to do. We're good soldiers,'' Davis said.

Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction and a critic of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, said the fact that schools can make 30-point gains in API and still not meet the AYP shows that the federal system is flawed. Statewide, 317 schools grew 30 points but didn't meet the AYP.

``The starting line is not the same for all kids,'' O'Connell said.

Educators note the real battle to meet federal targets lies ahead. This year, only 13.6 percent of elementary and middle school children in California must be proficient in English and 16 percent in math for schools to meet the AYP performance target. At high schools, the numbers are even lower - 11.2 percent in English and 9.6 in math.

But for the first time next year, California's minimum standards jump substantially when 25 percent of elementary students must test proficient in English and 26.5 percent in math. In high school, the numbers jump to 22.3 percent for English and 20.9 percent for math.

``I'm quite concerned with the step we're looking at long term,'' O'Connell said. ``The step goes up next year ... then the balloon payment comes due.''

Davis said it's unrealistic for the federal government to think all schools will be able to reach the target by 2014.

``Anybody who thinks that's going to happen in every school in America, I have some beach-front property to sell them,'' he said. ``It's a great ideology, but it's not reality.''

In neighboring Ventura County, 75 percent of elementary schools met the AYP target, compared with 66 percent last year. Middle schools saw a 6 percentage point gain with 52 percent meeting the criteria, up from 46 percent. About 60 percent of the high schools met the standards this year, compared with 38 percent last year.

Schools in 19 of 21 school districts met their API growth rates. The median API in Ventura County was 743, up one point from last year.

``Overall we did very well,'' County Superintendent of Schools Charles Weis said. ``We outperformed the state. It appears that we're on the right track even though there's a lot more work to be done.''

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com

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Sources: California Department of Education