San Carlos Schools Post Impressive Gains in API Scores.

October 17, 2012

CDE

All Schools Post Gains.

Last week, the California Department of Education updated their Accountability Progress Reporting (APR) metric for the 2011-12 period.  The API scores posted in this report were the result of testing that was conducted across the district during the Spring of 2012.  The new API scores for all San Carlos elementary and middle schools are posted in the table below.

Without exception, every school in the San Carlos School District posted gains from the 2011 Base metric.   Gains ranged from 3 basis points at White Oak Elementary, to a whopping 17 point gain at Central Middle School.    The District as a whole posted an impressive gain of 12 basis points over the previous year, which is an incredible achievement.

I know that the District is quick to disclaim that too much focus can be placed on API scores, so I will save Seth from at least one comment to this post 😉 .  Yes, API scores are only one of many important factors in judging the proficiency of a particular school or a school district.  There are many other factors that make San Carlos schools what they are — parental involvement, funding, teachers, etc..

But I can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that these scores are the first thing that most home buyers look for when they determine which city (or even which neighborhood within a given city) they will focus their house hunting efforts on.   That will never change.

So congratulations to the San Carlos School District for an impressive showing by all of their excellent schools.

API
2012 Growth 2011 Base 2011-12 Growth Target 2011-12 Growth





SAN CARLOS ELEMENTARY 915 903 D 12
Elementary Schools
  Arundel Elementary 955 946 A 9
  Brittan Acres Elementary 880 870 A 10
  Heather Elementary 929 917 A 12
  San Carlos Charter Learning Center 925 918 A 7
  White Oaks Elementary 935 932 A 3
Middle Schools
  Central Middle 889 872 A 17
  Tierra Linda Middle 932 922 A 11

“N/A” means a number is not applicable or not available due to missing data.
” * ” means this API is calculated for a small school or LEA, defined as having between 11 and 99 valid Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program test scores included in the API. The API is asterisked if the school or LEA was small in either 2011 or 2012. APIs based on small numbers of students are less reliable and therefore should be carefully interpreted.
“A” means the school scored at or above the statewide performance target of 800 in 2012.
“B” means the school did not have a valid 2011 Base API and will not have any growth or target information.
“C” means the school had significant demographic changes and will not have any growth or target information.
“D” means this is either an LEA or a special education school. Target information is not applicable to LEAs or special education schools.
Targets Met – In the “Met Growth Target” columns, the growth targets reflect state accountability requirements and do not match the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements. The AYP requirement for the API is a 2012 Growth API of 740, or a one-point increase from the 2011 Base API to 2012 Growth API for a school or LEA.

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1 Comment

  1. Parent on October 18, 2012 at 4:21 pm

    Anyone know why they don’t report Charter Learning Center into separate scores for the elementary grades (K-4) and middle school grades (5-8)? Are they only using the K-4 test results in the reporting above or is it mixed data?



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