Schools

San Bruno Schools Face Program Improvement Despite Growth in Test Scores

Both the San Bruno Park School District and Capuchino High have now received the program improvement designation for failing to have a certain percentage of students score at a proficient level or above on annual tests.

All San Bruno schools, while continuing to show above-average results in statewide test scores, are facing a stark reality this year: program improvement.

According to data recently released from the state Department of Education, the has now been placed on program improvement status for failing to have a certain percentage of students score at a proficient level or above on annual tests.

Schools that miss their federal goal for two years in a row, according to No Child Left Behind, receive the "program improvement" designation and face sanctions if they receive federal Title 1 money to support low-income students.

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The district will now join , which, despite seeing double-digit gains for its Academic Performance Index, or API, is in its second year of program improvement.

In a surprising turn of events, San Bruno Park’s API score actually dropped to 812 this year from 820 last year. All schools in the district, except for and , saw their API scores decline.

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California's system charts the progress of public schools and grades them on a scale of 200 to 1,000, according to how students do on standardized tests taken each spring. A score of 800 is considered proficient.

Capuchino High was one of six schools in the San Mateo Union High School District to raise its API scores by double digits. With an API of 750, Capuchino raised its score by 39 points from last year, according to state Department of Education data.

However, not all of the students met the school’s goals for achieving proficiency in English and math. Additionally, Capuchino’s has now dipped to 87 percent compared with an impressive 92 percent in 2009, according to the recent figures.

, the district’s continuation school, gained 27 points on its API score for a total gain of 90 points over the past two years. The district restructured the continuation school two years ago to better align with state standards and provide a more rigorous program. Students have responded by attaining the highest gains in the district over the past two years, according to San Mateo Union High School District Superintendent Scott Laurence.

Overall, Laurence said he was still pleased with the results.

“Our students and teachers performed very well last year,” he said. “They should be congratulated. But we cannot afford to relax. We still have lots of room for improvement.”

For San Bruno Park, program improvement has only previously been an issue for and Belle Air, which has been restructured this year to get the school out of program improvement. But program improvement for the entire district is definitely new territory, as this is the first time in at least six years that the district has received that designation.

Superintendent Dr. David Hutt said district officials are going to be paying close attention to the issue, but he doesn't want to rush into any changes in haste.

"We're taking look at the data, school by school, student by student," Hutt said. "And we're going to be developing plans that are unique to each school so that they can address each student's needs."


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