Schools

Only 2 Local Fountain Valley School District Campuses Show API Improvement

The district did put 2 of its 6 Fountain Valley campuses in the state's elite category.

As Fountain Valley School District students prepare to head back to school Wednesday still unsure which of their campuses might be closed this time next year, four of the six Fountain Valley schools' API scores either declined or were unchanged from last year.

Tamura led the pack with an API of 944, a seven-point jump that also made it one of two Fountain Valley campuses in the district whose scores qualified for an elite rating. The score was also 24 points higher than the median API for similar schools. Courreges came in with an API of 923, also qualifying for elite status despite an 11-point drop from last year's score. The score was also 23 points lower than the median API for similar schools.

Cox was the only other local school in the district to show improvement, raising its API 17 points to 887, which put it just below the median score for similar schools.

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Plavan suffered the biggest drop in its API, plunging 29 points to 888 and dropping the school out of elite status. The score was also 31 points lower than the median API for similar schools. Moiola, thought by many to be the prime candidate for closure recommendation, saw it API drop by 19 points to 873, 25 points lower than the median API for similar schools. District officials and the district's School Boundaries and Closure Committee have already determined that API scores won't be a factor in recommending a campus for closure.

Gisler came in with an API of 888, the same score it received last year, which is 13 points lower than the median for similar schools.

Find out what's happening in Fountain Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

API reflects growth in student achievement from one year to the next. It is determined by results on the California Standards Tests in English, math, history/social science and science, and the California High School Exit Exam. The scores range from 200 to 1,000, with a performance target of 800. According to the state, 49 percent of California schools met or exceeded the 800-point bar in 2010-11, compared to 46 percent in 2009-10.


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