The California Department of Education today released the latest state school testing data. This data, officially known as the 2009 Academic Performance Index (API), is based on the testing from last spring. Once again, Weaver is the star of the Los Alamitos unified School District.
Three of the district’s schools stand out for their performance. Weaver Elementary, with an API of 980, wins the district crown for the highest API. Weaver also is the school with the largest margin above the median for their similar schools, 41 points. With an increase of their API by 46 points since 2005, McAuliffe Middle School gets our title for the most long term improvement. The most improvement in the current year goes to Hopkinson, with an increase over last year of 24 points.
Los Alamitos High
Continuing an unbroken trend of overall API increases since at least 2005, Los Al High moved their API up from 851 to 870. The similar schools median also improved, going from 841 to 852. The high school’s 19 point increase, verses the median’s 11 point gain, moves Los Al further ahead of its similar school pack. Last year, the high school was 10 points above median, now it is 18 points higher.
Middle Schools
Both of the Los Alamitos middle schools improved their API by 9 points. Overcoming the down year of 2007 and only a 2 point gain last year, Oak Middle surpassed their 2006 high by moving up from 868 to 877. McAuliffe Middle School continued their upward assent by moving from 915 to 924.
The gains at Oak moved it to only 5 points below its similar school median. Last year it was 7 points below median. McAuliffe Middle School continues to be above the similar schools median by 16 points, unchanged from last year.
Elementary Schools
Hopkinson Elementary School jumped out from the range, high as it was, where they had been stuck since at least 2005. From 2005 through 2008, Hopkinson’s API fluctuated between 914 and 921. Last year was a small drop for Hopkinson, where they came in at 919, but this year they moved up to 943. They beat their similar schools median in both years, but this year they expanded their margin from 10 points to 17 points.
The API scores showed a decline at McGaugh Elementary, dropping from 889 last year, to 884 this year. At the same time, the similar schools median for McGaugh increased from 875 last year, to 889 this year. This means that last year McGaugh was 14 points above their similar schools median, and now they are 5 points below. McGaugh has seen its API fall in 3 of the last 4 years and it now stands 6 points lower than in 2005.
The amazing trend continues at Weaver Elementary, and keeps getting better. Not only did Weaver manage to increase their already very high API, they even improved their margin verses their similar schools median. The API at Weaver went up from 961 last year, to 980 this year. AT the same time, the median for Weaver’s similar schools increased from 925 to 939. Weaver’s margin over their similar schools median was 36 points last year and now it is even higher, at 41 points.
The API fell at Los Alamitos Elementary from 869 last year, to 865 this year. During the same period, their similar schools median improved from 859, to 874. Los Alamitos Elementary was 10 points above their similar schools median, now Los Alamitos Elementary is 9 points below their similar schools. The API for Los Alamitos Elementary is now only 3 points higher than it was in 2005.
Lee Elementary moved into the 900 club by increasing their API from 897 last year, to 918 this year. Their similar schools median went up from 879 to 889, so their margin above the similar schools expanded from 18, to a whopping 29.
Rossmoor Elementary needed a strong API gain to keep pace with their similar schools. Last year, at 900, Rossmoor was equal to the median of their similar schools, but that median increased by 18 points this year. But, Rossmoor beat that increase with a 22 point increase of their own, so now they are 4 points above the median.
The similar schools median is for 100 schools considered to be of “similar educational opportunities and challenges.” The API reflects a school’s composite academic achievement based on a variety of statewide assessments. The API incorporates test results from the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program and the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). Subject areas include English-language arts, mathematics, science, and history-social science.
The Los Alamitos Unified School District provides K-12 public schools for over 9,000 students in the cities of Los Alamitos and Seal Beach, the community of Rossmoor, and other adjoining areas. The district includes the Los Alamitos High School, a comprehensive high school, Laurel High School, a continuation high school, McAuliffe Middle School, Oak Middle School and 6 elementary schools.
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About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
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