Less than half of schools hit targets

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY — As government-set targets for students’ progress in language arts and math rose this year, fewer schools in San Bernardino County achieved those targets, but county students do continue to improve their test scores, the California Department of Education revealed Thursday.

Once the higher standards were set, 47 percent of county schools made their Adequate Yearly Progress targets, a drop of 15 percentage points from last year, the county reported.

“The results are impressive particularly in light of the fact we saw a big rise in the targets for Adequate Yearly Progress in math and English language arts,” Thomas said.

In the Morongo Unified School District, 30 percent of students were ranked as proficient or above in language arts and 32 percent were ranked as proficient or above in math on the assessment tests that determine schools’ Adequate Yearly Progress numbers.

The targets for English and math will continue to increase until 2014, when 100 percent of students are supposed to be proficient in both language arts and math, according to a mandate from the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Schools’ Adequate Yearly Performance scores are derived from test scores, the level of participation in assessment tests and, for high schools, graduation rates, which are expected to be at least 83 percent.

In San Bernardino County this year, 40 percent of high schools hit their progress targets.

Fifty-five percent of county elementary schools made all their targets, a drop of 17 percent from a year ago. Middle schools fell to 23 percent making their progress targets, down from 32 percent last year.

The results, released Thursday, show that county schools improved their Academic Improvement Index, which measures state schools using a range of scores from 200 to 1,000. All schools are expected to score at least 800.

A record 22 new schools met or exceeded 800 this year in San Bernardino County, making 112 schools in total that scored above the state benchmark.

In addition, the county’s performance index growth jumped this year to 716, an increase of 12 points.

Elementary schools in the county exceeded the statewide average with 81 percent meeting schoolwide Academic Performance Index targets.

“I am proud of the growth we are seeing with our students and schools, and it is reflected in their Academic Performance Index growth scores,” County Superintendent Gary Thomas said.

“I hope that this year’s gains provide the momentum for continuous improvement and even greater results in the future.”

The county also saw the second highest number of schools exiting Program Improvement in a single year, even though the targets set for school performance were higher for both math and English language arts this year.

Schools are put into the Program Improvement category if they do not meet the federal requirements called Adequate Yearly Progress in certain areas for two consecutive years.

www.cde.ca.gov for complete information about the

Accountability Progress Report.