Murrieta Schools Top County API Scores, Fall Short Federally

Despite a six-point increase in its Academic Performance Index score for 2010-2011, Murrieta Valley Unified has been placed in Program Improvement status for not reaching federal proficiency benchmarks.

The district's aggregate API score went from 837 last year to 843, the second-highest among Riverside County school districts. The scores range from 200 to 1,000, with a performance target of 800.

Along with Murrieta Valley Unified, the other districts with the highest aggregate API scores in Riverside County were Temecula Valley Unified with 859, Menifee Union Elementary--a K-8 district--with 843, Lake Elsinore Unified with 833 and Corona-Norco Unified with 815, according to figures released today by the California Department of Education.
  
According to the state, 49 percent of California schools met or exceeded the 800-point bar in 2010-11, compared to 46 percent in 2009-10.
  
API reflects growth in student achievement from one year to the next. It is determined by results on the California Standards Tests in English, math, history/social science and science, and the California High School Exit Exam.

Riverside County's average API is 777 in 2011, just a point lower than state average of 778. In 2010, it was 769, five points lower than the state 774.

“Year in and year out, Riverside County's students are improving faster than most other students in the state,'' said county Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Young. “Among the state's 16 largest counties, our students scored the fourth-largest gain on this year's API.”

Program Improvement
  
Statewide, 35 percent of elementary schools, 18 percent of middle schools and 41 percent of high schools met their federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks, all slight declines from last year.
  
Under the No Child Left Behind federal law, schools must meet annual AYP targets, which increase over time, so that in 2013-14, 100 percent of students are expected to score at the proficient level or above.

AYP measures whether a school and all its significant student subgroups met a single benchmark of achievement in a single year.

“As the federal No Child Left Behind standards continue to rise, we'll be like other counties, and more of our schools will be challenged to hit those moving targets. But Riverside County's students continue to gain ground on the rest of the state's largest counties. That's because Riverside County's schools are sustaining a culture of improvement,” Young said.
  
A school not meeting AYP may fall short in every category, or miss the mark narrowly by failing one of many criteria measured. Such is the case with Murrieta’s Rail Ranch Elementary, which met 18 of 21 criteria.

Rail Ranch was placed in Program Improvement status for the 2011-2012 school year after its socioeconomically-disadvantaged student subgroup failed to meet the AYP benchmarks of 67.6-percent proficiency in English and 68.5-percent proficiency in math. Of the subgroup, 50 percent were proficient in English and 57.4 percent in math.

The elementary school was the only school to be placed in Program Improvement. However, Murrieta Valley Unified School District as a whole was placed in Program Improvement.

District officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon about falling short of the federal benchmarks. The designation means the district failed to meet AYP targets among all its subgroups for the second year in a row.

According to the state report, subgroups districtwide that failed to reach benchmarks in English and math were black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, English learners, socioeconomically disadvantaged and students with disabilities.

To exit Program Improvement, the district or school must reach AYP targets for two consecutive years.

API growth is one of the elements to determine whether a school makes it over the AYP bar.

The Murrieta school that saw the highest growth in API was Warm Springs Middle School, from 802 in 2009-2010 to 836, an increase of 34 points. Among elementary schools, Avaxat Elementary achieved a gain of 18 points, from 829 to 847. At 917, Cole Canyon Elementary had the highest API score in the district.

Here is a list of 2010-2011 API scores for schools in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District:

• Alta Murrieta Elementary: 893, up from 890 in 2010

• Antelope Hills Elementary: 894, down from 896 in 2010

• Avaxat Elementary: 847, up from 829 in 2010

• Cole Canyon Elementary: 917, up from 916 in 2010

• Daniel N. Buchanan Elementary: 865, down from 868 in 2010

• E. Hale Curran Elementary: 838, up from 836 in 2010

• Lisa J. Mails Elementary: 876, up from 871 in 2010

• Monte Vista Elmentary: 852, up from 844 in 2010

• Murrieta Elementary: 848, down from 855 in 2010

• Rail Ranch Elementary: 843, up from 839 in 2010

• Tovashal Elementary: 868, down from 879 in 2010

• Dorothy McElhinney Middle School: 873, up from 850 in 2010

• Shivela Middle School: 820, up from 809 in 2010

• Thompson Middle School: 857, keeping with 2010 score

• Warm Springs Middle School: 836, up from 802 in 2010

• Murrieta Mesa High School: 812, down from 819 in 2010

• Murrieta Valley High School: 834, up from 823 in 2010

• Vista Murrieta High School: 825, up from 819 in 2010

• Creekside High School: 734, down from 736 in 2010

• Tenaja Canyon Academy: 780, up from 729 in 2010

City News Service contributed to this report.