PUSD Reviews Results of State Testing and
New Federal Regulations 

Poway Unified School District recently received information that formed a preview of the data that will be used by the federal government to determine school and district adequate yearly progress. The new school progress report previews showed that PUSD performed above state averages in performance at all elementary and high schools and at all middle schools except three in one subgroup area. While all schools in PUSD had student participation rates of above 90 percent, the rate required by new federal legislation was 95 percent for every subgroup with at least 100 students. Reaching at least 95 percent were 17 PUSD elementary schools, one middle school, and all comprehensive high schools.

Although California schools' 2003 Annual Yearly Progress report, a new federal requirement, won't be released until mid-August, the California Department of Education released 2002 data on Thursday, July 24, 2003. The information establishes the baseline for districts and schools to measure how many of their students are judged to be proficient in English-language arts and in mathematics under new guidelines from the federal government.

This is the first major step toward complying with the federal No Child Left Behind act, which became law in January 2002. The law demands that all students be proficient in math and English by 2014, and that 95 percent of students in designated grades 3 through 8 and one grade in high school be tested. Schools are required to report their progress toward that goal each year by measuring if enough students scored as proficient on standardized tests and how many students are tested.

States across the nation were required to adopt accountability systems using federal criteria. Mastery of English and math is the cornerstone of that system. Each state determined what it meant to be proficient in these subjects.

The 2002 data is based on Spring 2002 test results on the California High School Exit Exam and California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, and also includes statewide targets for 2003 in English-language arts and mathematics. In August, the state is scheduled to release the Adequate Yearly Progress Report (AYP) for 2003 that will show whether schools have met their statewide targets. 

This information and the Academic Performance Index (API) data, which will be released in October, 2003, will be used by the federal government to determine California school accountability and progress. The API measures schools' performance each year and gives schools a score between 200 and 1,000.

To make their goals on the AYP, schools must test at least 95 percent of their students, and exceed the statewide targets of at least 13.6 percent of elementary school students and 11.2 percent of high school students being proficient in English and language arts. PUSD’s percentage of proficiency was 63.3 percent. For the math requirement, the statewide targets are 16 percent of elementary students and 9.6 percent of high school students being proficient. PUSD’s percentage of proficiency was 61.7 percent. The proficiency level of skills in California in language arts and mathematics is compared to the entrance exams for college freshmen at the University of California and California State levels. Every year the bar will be raised until the year 2014 when 100 percent of the students are expected to be proficient.

All subgroups of at least 100 students, such as ethnic groups, socio-economically disadvantaged, disabled students and English learners, must also meet those requirements. If one subgroup fails to meet both of those requirements, the school has failed to make its annual goal.

The 2002 data showed that only 32 percent of California schools surpassed both the proficiency and participation benchmarks to which the 2003 data will be compared. The results showed that 24 percent of the schools tested enough students, but failed to meet the proficiency goal; 21.5 percent had enough proficient students, but failed to meet the participation rates; and 23 percent of schools failed both measures.

In San Diego County, three out of 42 districts and 177 out of 628 schools met all measures. There were 217 schools that met all measures but the participation rates. PUSD had 21 out of 30 schools meet all measures. In performance, PUSD had 27 out of 30 schools met all measures; and in participation, 21 out of 30 schools.

Under the No Child Left Behind federal requirement, schools that serve low-income students, called Title One schools, that don't make their goal for two consecutive years are put into an improvement program. Once in that program, students can transfer to another school within the district. The former school will have to pay for the transferring student's transportation. For schools not in the Title One category, there are no consequences for not meeting the annual goals at this time. This information will be based on the AYP in August and in the API results in October. The performance of all schools will be made public.

California’s state system and the federal system of accountability differ in several ways. The state system called for schools to improve their Academic Performance Index ratings. The federal government’s program requires not only gains, but that every student in every school reaches proficiency in math and language arts by 2014, regardless of demographics or subgroups.

The link to the state web site data for school districts and individual schools for the 2002 AYP is: