The last few weeks I've been working on a couple of grant proposals for The GreenHouse. For one of them, I needed to include updated statistics on the academic performance of the schools our students attend. So, off I went to the California Department of Education's website where you can get data on any school in the state. The results were sobering. Not that they there were new to me - I've seen them many times before - but still sobering, nonetheless.
Since this blog gives me chance to process things like this, I thought I'd share the results here. Process along with me if you choose.
First, a few definitions to help you understand the scores:
The API (Academic Performance Index) is a number between 200 and 1000 that reflects a school's performance level based on the results of the statewide STAR test and CA High School Exit Exam. The statewide goal is to have all schools at an API of 800 or higher.
Statewide Rank compares a school's API to the API of all of the schools statewide that are the same type (elementary, middle or high). Each school is given a ranking from 1 to 10 (1 is the for the worst/lowest performing schools, 10 is for the best/highest performing schools).
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged is a term that refers to a "student neither of whose parents have received a high school diploma OR a student who participates in free or reduced lunch."
Below are the API scores for Grant Union High School - the school that students from The GreenHouse attend....and the school that my own children will attend if we still live in this house in 10 years (and if they attend their district school):
1261 students took the test. 1258 of them were classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged.
API score - 606, Statewide Rank - 2
And now, the API scores for San Ramon Valley High School - the school I attended in Danville, just an hour away in the Bay Area:
1551 students took the test. 9 of them were classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged.
API score - 868, Statewide Rank - 10
Not really sure how to process that. I just know that it makes me pause and scratch my head and wonder...How we can do better at redistributing the resources - from where they are in abundance to where they are most needed - so that that there are no more "2" schools?
It sounds a little bit like a kingdom playground.
1 comment:
Good thoughts Kacie. Your point about allocation of resources is challenging. I recently came across this comment made by Martin Luther King 30+ years ago about the Vietnam War that speaks to the same issue: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
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