GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL -- Educationally Speaking

The Academic Performance Index school scores came out this week. These

scores are now part of every politician’s battle cry.

The explanation in the newspaper for those schools that showed

dramatic gains was that they were getting it right. No children were

falling through the cracks. One school in our district had a 90-point

jump in average test scores in one year.

But, as I figure it, half of the kids making up the test results were

different from 1999 to 2000.

The school is a kindergarten through third grade school, and kids

aren’t tested until second grade. So, last year’s third-graders aren’t

counted in this school’s results. This year’s second-graders hadn’t

taken the test before.

Perhaps as a school system, we have figured out how to help every

child, so there will be no need to compare how the same kids do as they

progress from year to year.

But, since many of the elementary schools in Costa Mesa are limited to

two to four years of test-taking, of the kids taking the test at that

school are different from year to year.

The Newport elementary schools, that all have seven grades, are

consistently among the top scores in the state and the nation. They have

all exceeded the state target and qualify for the incentive money.

Once again, scores dropped off from what they were at the feeder

elementary schools to the secondary schools.

So, even though the high schools have dramatically different average

scores, most of the secondary schools have worse scores than the

elementary schools that feed into that secondary school.

An obvious explanation is that the kids in elementary school now are

much more educated at that grade level than the kids in the higher

grades.

So, as those in high school graduate, they are replaced by the more

educated kids that then increase the school’s average test scores.

Unfortunately, two of our secondary schools had overall decreases.

When a business has a division that is losing money, it takes a course

of action.

It either puts money and labor into the division, to provide more

resources and training to bring the division up to snuff, or it closes it

down.

Schools follow a different course. The governor will give incentive

money to schools that met the target by January. The schools that didn’t

meet the target won’t be eligible for money and resources for another

year, if the school district decides to apply for that money with all of

the strings attached.

At the high school level, a big problem is getting the test takers

motivated to do their best on the test.

Here are my suggested motivation techniques.

Last year, at one school, we had a whole subject of science without

textbooks for the first four months of the school year. This year, we

have a whole subject of science without textbooks.

Last year, we had academic core classes with over 40 kids in one

class. This year, history repeats itself.

Last year, kids couldn’t get their schedules and make necessary

changes until after school started. The same thing happened this year.

Last year, kids got lockers that didn’t work. This year, those same

lockers still don’t work.

I can’t guarantee that these things will increase the school’s average

test scores.

But, if kids had their classes all worked out, and had a place to sit

in each class, a book to study from, and a place to keep their books from

the first day that school starts, wouldn’t they be off to a better start?

Do we really need to wait another year to fix these basic problems?

GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs

Tuesdays. She can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] .