HANFORD - With the release of the California 2006 Base Academic Performance Index report this week, Kings County Office of Education officials say they are more concerned about the academic growth of schools in the county than the state's designated API rankings.

Under the grading scale, the 9,400 schools are placed into categories of the top 10, the bottom one - and everything in between.

The API Base report also compares individual schools with all of those in the state and with schools having a similar student population.

Kings County schools continue to show steady progress toward reaching the statewide performance target, but it may not be reflected with the state ranking system.Jim Shaver, director of curriculum and instruction for the county office of education, said he is most concerned about the value of the information released on Tuesday.

"The problem with the decile ranking, somebody is always at the bottom of the list," he said, adding that the ranking "doesn't tell how much growth" any school had.

"I could make an incredible growth and still have a decile one," Shaver said.

When looking at the state statistics on student performance, Shaver said, the county's office of education puts "more value on how an individual school has raised the API score over time."

Giving an example, Shaver said he has been doing some work with Reef-Sunset Unified School District and in the last three years, schools in this district have raised their API score from 400 to 600 but some are still on decile one.

"So when you look at the decile ranking they are not growing, but when you look at their score they are making incredible growth," Shaver said. "That is what is wrong with a decile ranking."

Shaver said the state used the decile ranking as a way to select schools for state recognition.

"If you only look at the decile ranking, the schools in Kings County are not doing good," Shaver said, "but that is not an accurate picture of what is going on."

"We look (to see) if our school had exceeded their growth target, then we are successful," Shaver said, adding schools in the county are on the right track. "The schools in Kings County continue to make sure their curriculum is implemented correctly."

Shaver said schools in the county also look at their subgroups and how they can meet the needs of the subgroups that are struggling.

When compared to schools statewide, only 17 percent of Kings County schools rank in the bottom 10 percent, showing an improvement of three percent from last year.

In 2005, 21 percent of schools were ranked in the bottom 10 percent while in 2004, 25.6 percent of schools were ranked in the bottom 10 percent, and in 2003, 27.9 percent of schools were ranked in the bottom 10 percent.

When compared to schools with a similar population, Kings County schools continue to show some improvement, with only 8.5 percent of schools ranking in the lowest category. In 2005, only 16.3 percent of schools ranked in the lowest category and in 2004, only 18.6 percent of schools ranked in the bottom 10 percent, while in 2003 the figure was 27.9 percent.

However, out of the 47 county schools only six - Akers Elementary, Neutra Elementary, Kings River-Hardwick Elementary, Lemoore University Elementary Charter, Lemoore Middle College High and Pioneer Elementary - achieved an API score of at least 800, the state's target for adequate progress.

According to state statistics, the percentage of the state's elementary schools at or above 800 is 34.6 percent, up from 31.8 percent a year ago. However, in Kings County only 12.7 percent of the elementary schools are at or above 800.

According to API base reports from 1999 to present, Akers, Pioneer, Kings River-Hardwick, and Neutra have been the only four county schools to reach the state's target at least four times during that time period.

According to state statistics, the percentage of the state's high schools at or above 800 this year is 13.6 percent, up from 11.9 percent from 2005 and almost double from 2004's 7.0 percent.

Kings County high schools at Corcoran, Hanford, Hanford West, Lemoore and Avenal continue to show steady progress but are still far from reaching the state's target of at least 800.

This year's results show that Hanford High School has an API base score of 687 with a statewide rank of five while it received a rank of two when compared to similar schools.

Hanford West High School has an API base score of 668 with a fourth decile ranking for both state and similar schools.

In 2005, Hanford High got a rank of four and Hanford West got a third decile ranking.

Leslie Steffen, director of curriculum, assessment and student services for Hanford Joint Union High School District, said, "Both Hanford West High and Hanford High moved a decile higher in similar schools with the results of the 2006 API."

Statewide the median score on API base for high schools this year is 700, a gain of seven points from the 2005's API media score of 693.

"We are pleased with the continued growth in our API and we believe it can be attributed to the professional development, curriculum work and data analysis of our teachers," Steffen said. "Teachers examine the results of the STAR, CAHSEE and district tests to determine where our focus is needed and discussions lead us to changes in instructional strategies."

She added, "With the increase in academic support classes, we are seeing a narrowing of the gap in the academic achievement of our subgroups."

While Avenal High was ranked statewide in the bottom 20 percent, when compared to similar schools, Avenal had a seventh decile ranking. Avenal moved a decile higher in the statewide ranking and two deciles higher in similar schools ranking from the 2005 API base report.

Lemoore High School was two points short of the state median with an API base score of 698 and a fifth decile ranking for both state and similar schools.

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471 ext. 3054

(March 31, 2007)