Flash Report: August 16, 2006 Comment
California State Education officials are
positively in a tizzy over the best standardized test scores ever from
California schools.
“Only” 58% of those tested are NOT “proficient or advanced” in English, and
“only” 60% are NOT “proficient or advanced” in math!
It’s hard to argue with such resounding “success.” With “only” 60% failing, it
is not hard to understand how California falls in the bottom 5 of every national
test where states are ranked.
California residents don’t seem to care that they could RAISE our English scores
by hiring the displaced teachers from Katrina – yes, Virginia, Louisiana ranks
higher than California in reading comprehension.
So, what is it that California State Education officials are happy about? Well,
our high students are 2% less dumb than last year – but 2% is probably within
the margin of error.
The mind boggles!
(Details to follow!)
North County Inland Schools
2006 Latest Information
2006 School Rankings: Top 50
Schools)
Elementary Schools (Please
Note That NO Escondido Schools Appear)
1 Sage Canyon
Del Mar Union Elementary
2 Torrey Hills
Del Mar Union Elementary
3 Carmel Creek
Solana Beach Elementary
4 Solana Highlands
Solana Beach Elementary
5 Ashley Falls
Del Mar Union Elementary
6 Bird Rock
San Diego City Unified
7 Rancho Santa Fe
Rancho Santa I e Elementary
8 Creekside
Poway Unified
9 Del Mar Heights
Del Mar Union Elementary
10 El Camino Creek Encinitas
Union Elementary
I 1 Kelly
Carlsbad Unified
12 Park Village
Poway Unified
13 Coronado Village Coronado
Unified
14 Flora Vista
Encinitas Union Elementary
15 Curie
San Diego City Unified
16 Olivenhain Pioneer Encinitas Union Elementary
17 Ellen Browning
San Diego City Unified
18 Solana Santa Fe
Solana Beach Elementary
19 Jerabek
San Diego City Unified
20 Fuerte
Cajon Valley Union Elementary
21 La Costa Heights
Encinitas Union Elementary
22 Dingeman
San Diego City Unified
23 Carmel Del Mar
Del Mar Union Elementary
24 Painterd Rock
Poway Unified
25 Aviara Oaks
Carlsbad Unified
26 Tierra Bonita
Poway Unified
27 Chaparral
Poway Unified
28 Fletcher Hills
La Mesa-Spring Valley
29 Canyon View
Poway Unified
30 Pacific Rim
Carlsbad Unified
31 Deer Canyon
Poway Unified
32 Highland Ranch
Poway United
33 El Cajon Valley
Union Elementary
34 Mission Estancia
Encinitas Union Elementary
35 Murdock
La Mesa-Spring Valley
36 Rolling Hills
Poway Unified
37 Carrillo
San Marcos Unified
38 La Costa Meadows
San Marcos Unified
39 Del Mar Hills
Del Mar Union Elementary
40 Explorer Elementary Charter San
Diego Unified
41 Cardiff
Cardiff Elementary
42 Turtleback
Poway Unified
43 La Jolla
San Diego City Unified
44 Magnolia
Carlshad Unified
45 Los Penasquitos
Poway Unified
46 Murray Manor
La Mesa Spring Valley
47 Benchley/Weinberger San Diego
City Unified
48 Morning Creek
Poway Unified
49 Adobe Bluffs
Poway Unified
50 Sunset Hills
Poway Unified
Middle Schools: (Top 50
Schools)
Middle Schools
I Rancho Santa Fe
Rancho Santa Fe Elementary
2 Carmel Valley
San Dieguito Union High
3 Mesa Verde
Poway Unified
4 Marshall (Thurgood)
San Diego City Untied
5 Ward Oaks
Carlsbad Unified
6 Warren (Earl)
San Diequito Union High
7 Coronado
Coronado Unified
8 Bernardo Heights
Poway Unified
9 High Tech
San Diego Unified
10 Diegueno Sari
Dieguito Union High
11 Muirlands
San Diego City Unified
I2 Twin Peaks
Poway Unified
13 Black Mountain
Poway Unified
14 Meadowbrook
Poway Unified
15 Oak Crest
San Dieguito Union High
16 Standley
San Diego City Unified
17 Hillsdale
Cajon Valley Union Elementary
18 Eastlake Middle School
Sweetwater Union High
19 Parkway
La Mesa-Spring Valley
20 De Portola (Gasper)
San Diego City Unified
21 Mar Queen (loan)
Alpine Union Elementary
22 Lewis
San Diego City Unified
23 Madison
Vista Unified
24 Valley
Carlsbad Unified
25 Challenger
San Diego City Unified
26 Sullivan (Norm)
Bonsall Union Elementary
27 Roosevelt
Vista Unified
28 Bonita Vista
Sweetwater Union High
29 Valley Center
Valley Center-Pauma Unified
30 La Mesa
La Mesa-Spring Valley
31 Oak Grove
Jamul-Dulzura Union Elementary
32 Julian
Julian Union Elementary
33 Woodland Park
San Marcus Unified
34 Wangenheim
San Diego City Unified
35 Pershlng
San Diego City Unified
36 Pierce (Olive)
Ramona City Unified
37 Potter (James E)
Fallbrook Union Elementary
38 Hilltop
Sweetwater Union High
39 King (Martin Luther) Middle
Oceanside Unified
40 Rancho del Rey
Sweetwater Union High
41 Spring Valley
La Mesa -Spring Valley
42 Tierra del Sol
Lakeside Union Elementary
43 Correia
San Diego City Unified
44 Creative Performing and Media
San Diego Unified
45 Lakeside
Lakeside Union Elementary
46 Rincon
Escondido Union Elementary
47 Montgomery
Cajon Valley Union Elementary
48 Emerald
Cajon Valley Union Elementary
49 Hidden Valley
Escondido Union Elementary
50 San Marcos
San Marcus Unified
High Schools
I River Valley high (Charter)
Lakeside Union Elementary
2 Preuss Model School at UCSD
San Diego Unified
3 Viking Center
Grossmont Union High
4 San Dieguito High Academy
San Dieguito Union High
5 High Tech
San Diego City Unified
6 Coronado
Coronado Unified
7 La Jolla
San Diego City Unified
8 Rancho Bernardo
Poway Unified
9 Mt. Carmel
Poway Unified
10 Poway
Poway Unified
11 La Costa Canyon
San Dieguito Union High
12 Westview
Poway Unified
13 Scripps Ranch
San Diego City Unified
14 Julian
Julian Union High
15 Carlsbad
Carlsbad Unified
16 University City
San Diego City Unified
17 Sun Valley
Charter Ramona City Unified
18 Mira Mesa
San Diego City Unified
19 School of Business and Technology
Oceanside Unified
20 Henry
San Diego City Unified
21 West Hills
Grossmont Union High
27 Escondido Charter
Escondido Union High
23 San Pasqual
Escondido Union High
24 Valhalla
Grossmont Union High
25 Steele Canyon
Grossmont Union High
26 Ramona
Ramona City Unified
27 EI Camino
Oceanside Unified
28 Eastlake
Sweetwater Union High
29 Rancho Buena Vista
Vista Unified
30 Otay Ranch
Sweetwater Union High
31 Granite Hills
Grossmont Union High
32 Rondo Vista
Sweetwater Union High
33 San Diego Creative & Performing Arts
San Diego City Unified
34 Grossmont
Grossmont Union High
35 Grossmont Middle College
Grossmont Union High
36 Guajome Park
Academy Vista Unified
37 Bonsall Charter Academy for Learning Bonsall
Union Elementary
38 Helix
Grossmont Union High
39 Mountain Empire Senior High
Mountain Empire Unified
40 Borego Spriigs
Borrego Springs Unified
41 Morse
San Diego City Unified
42 Pacific View Charter
Oceanside Unified
43 Fallbrook
Fallbrook Union High
44 Escondido
Escondido Union High
45 Oceanside
Oceanside Unified
46 Valley Center
Valley Center Pauma Unified
47 Orange Glen
Escondido Union High
48 Santana
Grossmont Union High
49 San Marcos
San Marcos Unified
50 El Capitan
Grossmont Union High
This analysis is written based upon published 2004
API test results provided by the
California Department of Education, and from the personal viewpoint of someone who has more than 5,000 hours of teaching at
the university level, and a love of education.
Education does not take place in a vacuum, or necessarily in a classroom. It is true
that any child can get an education anywhere, but it is easier in schools that have a
climate of academic excellence. This essay will try to identify those schools with a
higher climate of academic excellence.
The best high schools in the County, statistically and anecdotally, are private
schools. That said, most parents utilize public schools and need some methodology of
assuring that their children have the best opportunity available for receiving a good
education.
2005 Update
(For a 2005 column I published in the San Diego
Business Journal in 2005 on The Nations Report Card, please click the button on
the left.)
Apparently, we have attained Lake Woebegone status,
where all children are above average!
Reporting on the latest API scores, the North County Times page one headlines
above the fold proclaim, “Most North County students outpacing their peers on
test scores.”
That certainly is placing the best face on the actual numbers. When it comes to
“ranking,” the experts are on the sports page where statistics are a way of
life. I do not recall any headline saying “Padres above average” – because in
all sports the criteria is comparison against the best. The Padres, Chargers,
whomever, are x number of games behind the best. Being “above average” or even
“above .500” is a feel-good aside, and absolutely meaningless.
The average in California education is none too good by every measure, so being
“better than average” is a measurement against a highly diminished standard.
In the one page of statistical data of North County schools, the “best” is the
Gold Standard set by the Poway Unified School District (PUSD). The PUSD is not
the best school district in the state – not even the highest scoring school
district in the County – but overall in North County it probably is the best we
have. (Actually Del Mar Union and San Dieguito Union High both are perfect on
exceeding the announced numerical standard, but they are much smaller.)
Comparing other school districts against the PUSD is a simple mathematical
matter because the State has declared a school API score of 800 as the minimum
goal for every school in California. PUSD has 29 regular schools, of which 27
exceed the 800 standard. The Escondido Union High and Elementary districts
combined have 25 regular schools, of which only five exceed the 800 standard.
Vista’s combined regular schools number 23, of which only two exceed the 800
standard. Oceanside has 24 regular schools, and only five exceed the 800 minimum
standard. At the top end of the smaller districts, San Dieguito Union High
District has seven regular schools and all seven exceed the 800 standard, while
Del Mar Union Elementary has six regular schools and not only do all six exceed
800, but five of them exceed 900! (1,000 is “perfect.”)
At the bottom end of the small school district scale is Valley Center/Pauma
Unified and the Ramona City Unified, with seven and eight regular schools
respectively. The Ramona district has one school above the 800 mark; Valley
Center/Pauma has none.
There is a lot of chaff placed in the statistics as a bow to political
correctness, and there are separate scores and rankings “adjusted” for
socio-economic and ethnic factors. Again, turning to the sports pages for
guidance, sports and business each representing more “real life” experiences
than does academia, it is easy to determine that PC scoring is pap. Sports
rankings are not scored in baseball by factoring in bad childhood, or
English-speaking. Fortune 500 rankings are not adjusted for ethnic hiring. No
one adjusts…just academia.
The pure numbers are there for anyone to see, but, admittedly, most people will
only read the headlines – and headlines do not always represent the impact of
any article, and in some cases an article does not represent the facts.
Journalists are not necessarily experts in education (or anything else), and
almost certainly are not experts in reading statistical reviews – particularly
statistical reviews encumbered with ethnic and socio-economic garbage.
I urge everyone to read the numbers, and not take the spin assigned by whatever
educator happens to be within earshot. There are always people who can put
lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.
Remember that there are good schools in bad districts, and bad schools in good
districts. In the end, your child only attends one school, and there are many
criteria by which to select that school. API numbers are only one criteria, but
it is a useful shorthand to assess one measurable aspect of the selection
analysis.
Analysis of schools that serve the Hidden Meadows community
Hidden Meadows is a community that is divided at Cerveza Baja. To the north of Cerveza
Baja, children default into the Valley Center schools and residences to the south default
into the Escondido school districts.
I use the term "defaults" intentionally because throughout the area, students
may petition to attend different schools in their assigned school districts or schools
outside their assigned school districts. Students attending the schools within the school
district they are assigned have school transportation, but those who are accepted outside
their assigned school must provide their own transportation.
The good news is that, although the Escondido schools have a high number of
"under-performing schools", none of those "under-performing" schools
service the Hidden Meadows community. The bad news is that California in general has a
poor quality of education, so even the good schools are judged against a diminished
standard. The State of California spends $7,771 in public funds, on average, for each
student K-12 in the State.
High Schools
As can be seen from the chart below, San Pasqual High is
the class of Escondido, and Escondido advertises that it has an "open transfer"
policy. In fact, in July 2002 the President's "Leave no Child Behind" initiative
identified both Escondido High School and Orange Glen High School as performing
in such an unsatisfactory manner as to require that their students be permitted
to transfer or have access to special tutoring. (Del Dios Middle School in
Escondido was awarded a similar "Dunce Cap.")
There is an excellent "Charter School" in Escondido. Charter Schools are public schools
that are not constrained by onerous rules and regulations on building sites, or unionized
teacher hiring requirements. Basically, a Charter School can set its own rules without
adhering to the State Education Code, and it can prove itself after several years by its
students scores on statewide tests. Charter Schools have not been around sufficiently long
to prove themselves statistically but recent scores and anecdotal evidence is that they are better than most
public schools..Escondido Charter School gets high marks from
the parents of the students, and a lot of good press.
Homes located north of Cerveza Baja have their students attend Valley Center
High School, which is too new to have taken SAT tests. Anecdotal evidence
and new API scores indicates that the new Valley
Center High School is going to be a relatively good school, but there is no
existing statistical data on the SAT level, and there will not be for several
years. On the API, however, Valley Center High grades
better than any Escondido
(except San Pasqual), San
Marcos, or Fallbrook High School!
In March, 2005,
the Escondido High School District and the entire Valley Center/Pauma Valley
Unified School District was placed in a warning status by the No Child Left
Behind system because of poor performance and continued problems.
Escondido High School District
Exit Exam
The California High School
Exit Exam is one way to judge a school
district, and when judging the Escondido District things do not look
particularly good.
In Math, the Statewide passing rate is 32%, San Diego
County is 32%, and the high schools in Escondido average 27%.
In English, the Statewide passing rate is 54%, San Diego
County is 52%, and the high schools in Escondido average 40%.
It is possible for a student to take the
exam as many times as is necessary to pass it, the exam is based on an eighth
grade curriculum, but STILL the passing rate is LOW. The exams are rated at the
eighth grade level...
Middle Schools
There is now specific statistical data that would let a parent choose from among the
local middle schools with the API ranking. Those students from north of Cerveza Baja attend
Valley Center Middle School. The nearest Middle School to Hidden
Meadows is Rincon.
The State of California has just instituted the API scoring, and in future years its
rating system will take into account graduation rates and a number of other factors. While
the State has not yet told us everything we need to know, it has cataloged the worst
schools, or "Underperforming Schools Needing Immediate Intervention." There are
161 such schools in the County, BUT NONE OF THEM REGULARLY SERVE HIDDEN MEADOWS.
With the caveat that California stands, for example, 48th of the
50 states in Fourth Grade reading – meaning that California schools are not very
good in general.
These are the most recent scores and standings of
Escondido and Valley Center Schools, as of the rankings in August, 2002.
Statewide Rank
A rank of 10 is the highest and 1 is the lowest, so in
"Rank" and "Similar Schools Rank" you want the highest number.
The following lists are sorted first by "State Rank" and then by api test
results. I did this so that the schools appear within their respective types in
a manner best read as "Quality." Highest schools appear first. (Editor's
Comment: Personally I believe the so-called "Similar Rank is a worthless number,
since parents seldom care how the school ranks with some nameless group of
schools somewhere else in the state. Generally, where parents have choices, it
is among schools in the district in which the family lives and people are
unconcerned how the school of their choice rates against some "similar" school
elsewhere in the state.
Generally speaking, therefore the numbers you are looking
for is a 9 or 10 in "State Rank" and a minimum API score of 800 or more.
I have excluded "Similar Rank" from these 2005 rankings
because they are "feel-good" scores and worse than meaningless.
ESCONDIDO SCHOOLS -- Posted 03/19/05