LAUSD Rolls Out New Measure for Student Achievement

Los Angeles public schools are now . To date, they've been assessed by the state's Academic Performance Index (API) scores, which are still in effect. Now parents can also evaluate public schools with the district's controversial Academic Growth Over Time assessment.

The new approach looks at the progress students make in their test scores from one year to the next. It uses standardized test scores in math and English as the raw data, and claims to reveal whether teachers are effective in raising student achievement.

Unlike the API scores, Academic Growth Over Time controls for external factors, which often influence student test results.

“This is much more than just a test score," said Los Angeles Unified School District Deputy Superintendent John Deasy at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday. "This is how students have done over time on numerous assessments, understanding all of the conditions that can affect student learning."

The system also aims to help evaluate teacher performance. Teachers are to get their results privately at the end of May.

The district's ratings show there can be big differences between API scores and Academic Growth Over Time scores. For example, Lanai Road School in Encino has an API score of 940—out of 1,000—putting it among the highest-scoring schools in the district. Under the new growth measure, however, Lanai Road School is significantly below the district’s average.

"A school like Lanai should technically be exempt from the growth measure study because our scores are near the ceiling, which would render any results insignificant when it comes to measuring growth,” said Lanai parent Farnaz Simantob.

There has not been universal applause for the new assessment. Many say the policy would force teachers to spend inordinate amounts of time teaching to the test instead of educating.

LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer, who represents Encino schools, explains the popular fear that the new Academic Growth Over Time assessment could affect the content and style of instruction.

“The danger with the present rollout of the [assessment] is that right now it is solely based on California Standards Test scores,” Zimmer told Encino Patch. “Human nature is that schools, especially school leaders, will obsess over those scores.

"While I support the importance of the information getting out to schools, we need to be explicit that what we do not want is an obsession with the test, which will inevitably limit instruction," he said. "Information is important and useful, but it can be dangerous if we don't have clear objectives for how the information should be used.”

Below is a table that localizes the Academic Growth Over Time scores for an average of the last three years. The district average score has been set to 3 (out of 5).

You can compare that to the school's most recent API score. API scores range from 200 to 1,000 points; the statewide target score is 800 points.

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To learn more about Academic Growth Over Time or to access the school-level reports, visit http://agt.lausd.net.