Oak View makes largest gain in county

Mike Sciacca, Independent

They are beaming with pride on the Oak View Elementary School campus

-- and for good reason.

When the state released the latest Academic Performance Index scores

on Monday, Oak View students had made an astounding 100 point increase

from the previous testing period.

It was the greatest gain in all of Orange County.Principal Karen

Catabijan attributes the success to hard work on the part of teachers,

students and their parents.

“The most important thing we did was focus on literacy, speaking

English and attaining and elevating math skills,� said Catabijan, whose

campus has a 99.9% Latino population, many of whom are learning the

English language. “Our teachers are always looking at standards, they

collaborate with one another and do a lot of planning as a group. Our

students have taken learning to heart and our parents in the community

are committed to the success of their children.�

The Academic Performance Index is the system mandated by Gov. Gray

Davis’ Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 that ranks each public

school based on student performance.

Statewide, 6,700 schools received a score between 200 and 1,000, based

on the results of the Stanford 9 test taken by students in spring.

The state has set a target score of 800 for every school. Each school

ranked below 800 is required to improve their score by a fixed percentage

each year until they reach 800. Schools that receive 800 or higher are

expected to maintain or improve each year.

With a score of 490 last year Oak View needed to bring its score up by

16 points to meet the growth target set for the school by the state. The

school met it and then some, scoring 590 this year.

Oak View was part of an impressive showing by schools in the Ocean

View School District where all 15 schools met the statewide growth

target, said Karen Colby, director of curriculum and instruction for the

district.

“We are very pleased with what these tests reported,� Colby said. “We

continue to improve in all areas. Last year, we had 14 schools meet the

target. This year, both Mesa View and Spring View middle schools exceeded

the statewide performance target.�

While all of the schools in the Huntington Beach Union High School

District remain below the 800 mark, all but two of the six schools met

and surpassed their growth target. Huntington Beach High, Marina, Ocean

View and Westminster saw an increase while Edison and Fountain Valley

fell.

“Overall we are pleased with what the numbers show us,� said Jerry

White, the district’s director of curriculum development. “Westminster

made the greatest gain and has done a tremendous job in statewide testing

scores over the last four years. We will continue to address the areas

where we need improvement.�

In the Huntington Beach City School District seven of the district’s

10 schools hit the 800 performance target, led by Huntington Seacliff

Elementary School, which scored a 901 with a gain of 57 points from the

previous year. Six of those schools, including both middle schools, Dwyer

and Sowers, experienced growth from the previous year.

“We went up significantly in reading and math in most grades and at

most schools,� said Lynn Bogart, director of curriculum. “We have had 5%

and 10% growth in the last three or four years and we are very, very

pleased in the direction we are heading. We had 60 people -- teacher

leaders, principals and other staff members -- analyze in-depth student

results from this testing and we are identifying where improvement needs

to be made.�

Denise May, a fourth grade teacher at Oak View Elementary, said

teachers there really put in a tremendous effort to bring up their

student’s test scores.

“A lot of our direction comes from Karen [Catabijan] and she provides

excellent focus. It’s contagious,� May said.

* MIKE SCIACCA is the education and sports reporter. He can be reached

at (714) 965-7171 or by