By Jeff Hudson/Enterprise staff writer
The Davis, Woodland and Winters school districts all posted gains in the 2003 Academic Performance Index Base results, released this morning by the California Department of Education.
In Davis, all schools covered by API statistics ranked above 800 points - the threshold at which they are considered "high performing schools."
For the first time, three Davis elementary schools topped 900 points. Robert Willett Elementary, which topped 900 in 2001 and 2002, scored 912 for 2003.
Pioneer Elementary scored 912, and North Davis Elementary scored 901.
The score for Pioneer Elementary needs to be taken in context. When Pioneer scored 833 in the 2002 API Base rankings, 554 students were tested, and Pioneer served all of South Davis, with the largest enrollment of any Davis elementary school. When the testing for the 2003 API Base rankings was done, the elementary school enrollment in South Davis had been split between Pioneer (where 381 students were tested) and a new campus, Marguerite Montgomery Elementary (where 276 students were tested). Montgomery scored 811 in the new API rankings.
Coincidentally or not, Willett, North Davis and Pioneer were also the elementary campuses reporting the highest percentages of parents who had attended graduate school, and the lower numbers of "socioeconomically disadvantaged" pupils in comparison with other Davis elementary schools. At Willett, 70 percent of families had a parent who has attended graduate school; 48 pupils (out of 441 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged." At North Davis, 62 percent of families had a parent who'd attended graduate school; 50 pupils (out of 385 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged." At Pioneer, 56 percent of families had a parent who'd attended graduate school; 43 pupils (out of 381 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged."
By contrast, at Valley Oak Elementary, 56 percent of families had a parent who'd attended graduate school; but 110 students (out of 485 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged. And at Birch Lane Elementary, 48 percent of families had a parent who'd attended graduate school; 62 students (out of 459 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged." At Marguerite Montgomery Elementary, 46 percent of families had a parent who'd attended graduate school; 59 students (out of 276 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged."
(The Davis School for Independent Study was not ranked in this year's API, owing to small numbers of students at some grade levels.)
API scores were up at both Davis junior high campuses - 846 at Emerson, 851 at Holmes. Davis High also posted an increase, to 814. (In almost all school districts across California, junior high schools post higher API rankings than high schools in the same district.)
Davis Hispanic (or Latino) students scored lower, as a subgroup, than their white or Asian background classmates. At Emerson, Hispanic students averaged 697, while white students averaged 874. At Holmes, Hispanic students averaged 693, white students averaged 874, and Asian students averaged 906. At Davis High, Hispanic students averaged 637, white students averaged 838, and Asian students averaged 854.
In the Woodland school district, Zamora Elementary posted a 789, and Plainfield Elementary posted a 786 - putting both campuses close to the 800-point threshold. Other Woodland campuses have posted impressive gains over the last three years: Beamer Elementary, with 664, has risen by over 100 points since 2001. All of Woodland's schools posted gains in the new API ranking, with the exception of Cache Creek High, a small continuation high school where enrollment fluctuates from semester to semester.
Woodland's Douglass Middle School scored 725, Lee Middle School scored 645. Woodland High school scored 639.
In Winters, Rominger Elementary scored 716 in that school's first API ranking. Waggoner Elementary scored 673, Winters Middle School scored 641, and Winters High scored 669.
The demographic statistic for Davis, Woodland and Winters high schools once again indicated the differing socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds of the students in each of those districts. At Davis High, 59 percent of families had a parent who attended graduate school; 85 students (out of 1,094 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged"; in terms of ethnicity, 114 students (out of 1,094 tested) were Hispanic, 763 students were white, 163 students were Asian.
At Woodland High, 7 percent of families had a parent who attended graduate school; 322 students (out of 1,367 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged"; 644 students (out of 1,367 tested) were Hispanic, 631 were white, 56 were Asian. Woodland High's Hispanic students averaged 566, white students averaged 723 in the API.
At Winters High, 7 percent of families had a parent who had attended graduate school; 170 students (out of 423 tested) were "socioeconomically disadvantaged"; 205 students (out of 423 tested) were Hispanic, 204 students were white. Winters' Hispanic students averaged 567, white students averaged 767 in the API.
Tuesday, March 9, 2004