[BHS Etree] BUSD Shows Gains on the API and AYP

Thu Aug 29 13:04:54 PDT 2013

PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact Mark Coplan at 
markcoplan at berkeley.net

*For Immediate Release*

Thursday, August 29, 2013

*Berkeley Unified School District Shows Gains on the API and AYP*

Berkeley, CA -- August 29, 2013 - The California Department of Education 
released the 2013 Accountability Progress Report today. This annual 
report contains three sections:  1) the *state* Academic Performance 
Index (API) measuring year-to-year growth in academic achievement that a 
school or local educational agency (LEA) has made, 2) *federal* Adequate 
Yearly Progress (AYP) measuring how well a school meets minimum 
performance targets, and 3) Four-year cohort graduation rate data for 
the class of 2011--12.

*Academic Performance Index (API) - *Berkeley Unified School District 
(BUSD) had an overall growth of 10 points resulting in a district-wide 
Academic Performance Index (API) of 821.  The greatest gains in academic 
achievement are reflected in the 21-point increase in API for 
Socio-Economically Disadvantaged students, 16-point increase for 
African-American students, and 11-point growth for Students with 
Disabilities (Special-Education students). Further disaggregation by 
ethnicity shows smaller API increases for Asian (3), Hispanic or Latino 
(6), and White (2) students.  In addition, thirteen out of fourteen of 
BUSD's elementary and middle schools continue to exceed the statewide 
API target of 800 or above. Several district-wide initiatives have 
contributed to the gains for these student groups including the 
implementation of Response to Intervention and Instruction (RTI^2 ) in 
our K-8 schools, common assessments in the high school, and focused 
professional development for teachers. "During the transition to the 
Common Core Standards, results varied by grade level, subject area and 
student population, but the big picture reflects a focus on growth over 
time, thus resulting in overall gains," said Neil Smith, Assistant 
Superintendent.

Berkeley High School's API grew by 22-points last year, a total of 
41-points over two years, for a school API of 757.  In addition, 
Berkeley High School made double-digit gains for African-American (27), 
Hispanic or Latino (21) Socio-Economically Disadvantaged students (24) 
and Students with Disabilities (41). "We are encouraged by the 
improvements in student performance that we see on these particular 
measurements," said Principal Pasquale Scuderi. "We see these gains in 
part as confirmation that the work we are doing around curriculum 
alignment, lesson design, and school culture, is moving us in a positive 
direction. These improvements also strengthen our commitment to deepen 
and expand our efforts, as while the news is no doubt positive, as a 
professional community, we know that generating truly equitable outcomes 
for all students on measures like these and a host of others means that 
significant work remains."."

*Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) --*AYP targets become more difficult to 
reach as a higher percentage of students are required to score 
proficient or advanced each year.  The AYP reports indicate that BUSD 
increased by 1.5% for Mathematics to 71.6% and decreased by less than 1 
percentage point in ELA to 68.7%.  In Mathematics, Hispanic / Latino and 
Socio-Economically Disadvantaged (SED) students demonstrated the 
greatest gains with over 3% more students at proficiency or higher.

*Graduation Rate -- *The Adequate Yearly Progress report includes a 
Cohort High-School Graduation Rate.  Berkeley Unified School District 
met all graduation rate targets with more students in the Class of 
2011-2012 graduating.  The graduation rate increased from 79.62 the 
previous year to 82.99 showing a gain of over 3 points.  In addition, 
all significant subgroups with the exception of Students with 
Disabilities showed similar gains. The greatest gains were made by 
Latino students with a 7.02 percentage point gain and English Learners 
with gains of more than 5 points.  Further sub-group analysis also shows 
gains for Asian (3.04), White (2.13) and African-American (1.83) 
students.  While a difference between still remains between the 
graduation rate of White students (89.83) and their African-American 
(74.52) and Hispanic or Latino (82.02) peers, the graduation rate for 
these sub-groups exceeds the state and county rates and the gap between 
the two is far lower for BUSD.

"The long-standing disparity among student groups is our greatest 
challenge," stated new superintendent, Dr. Donald Evans. "The new Common 
Core State Standards are designed to be both rigorous and relevant for 
students, and the Local Control Funding Formula will result in increased 
revenue for our schools.  I believe that both of these reforms have the 
potential to have a significant impact on equitable outcomes in student 
achievement.  We want every student to experience success, and graduate 
ready to enter college and/or the workplace."

The BUSD Board of Education, District leadership, individual school site 
leadership teams and staff, will continue to work collaboratively to 
conduct a thorough analysis of test results and other available data, 
because as new Superintendent Evans opined, "Our work is far from 
finished. We now have to focus targeted instruction and resources to the 
specific areas where we know we can better serve our students."  A board 
presentation on the most recent API, AYP, and graduation rate data is 
scheduled for Wednesday, September 18, 2013.

For further information on the District and School API and AYP, please 
go to: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ar/ .

-- 
Mark Coplan, Public Information Officer
Berkeley Unified School District
510-644-6320 Cell: 510-472-3811
___
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