Schools
Lynwood Unified's Test Scores Show Gains
Data released by the state's department of education showed an improvement in the district's overall API score for 2012.
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Students from the Lynwood Unified School District have exceeded academic expectations according to recently released data by the California Department of Education. Local students showed dramatic gains on standardized tests in a single year.
According to the state’s education department, Lynwood’s 2012 Academic Performance Index (API) score was 711 points, an increase of 22 points when compared to last year.
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API scores are a measure of academic growth based on a set of standardized English language, math, science and history tests.
The California Standards Tests (CSTs) and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) are examples of these standardized examinations.
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Statewide, school districts averaged only an increase of ten points.
“Our students hit the ball out of the park,” said Deputy Superintendent Paul Gothold, who mentioned the results at the Sept. 11 meeting of the Board of Education. “I’m thrilled to announce that the Lynwood Unified School District is now in the 700 club.”
The statewide API performance target for every school is 800.
According to the state department’s website, a score or placement on the API is an indicator of the school’s performance level.
The 2012 Projected Accountability Report that was released during last month’s meeting, 14 of Lynwood’s 17 schools raised their API scores, and surpassed the state's eight-point average with double digit numbers.
The students’ achievements are proof that the district’s attention to strengthening instructional programs through the Achieving Greatness Initiative is working, maintains Gothold.
Programs through the initiative include curriculum alignment and higher academic standards.
“These test scores show that our instructional reforms are working,” said school board President Alfonso Morales. “This amount of progress in a single year drives home the point that a top education is available in Lynwood schools.”
The same set of tests used to calculate the API scores are used to compute the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) score. Each school district has a growth target for these scores that calculate proficiency in math and English.
The district met 62 of the 132 targets, which was an increase of nearly 400 percent, when compared with the 16 that were met in 2011.
"We moved hundreds, maybe even thousands of students up from 'Far Below Basic' [level]," Gothold said. “While there is still work to be done, this is more proof that Lynwood schools are moving swiftly in the right direction.”
The state API and federal AYP scores are considered “accountability” yardsticks for measuring how effectively school districts are doing their job.
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