Adams Elementary has increased by nearly 100 points to last year’s score of 760 since the state launched its Academic Performance Index in 1999. The state’s goal is to have schools score an 800 or above on a scale of 1,000. By federal standards, white students’ proficiency in English and math has grown significantly and Latino proficiency scores in both subjects at Adams have nearly doubled since 2002.
The group does not rely on California standardized test scores because the state changes how it measures success from year to year, according to the Academic Performance Index manual. Instead, they look to Adams’ annual ranking to similar schools in the state. On a scale of one to 10, Adams was ranked a nine in 1999 compared to similar schools statewide. In 2006, the latest rankings, Adams was ranked fifth.
“We’re trying to empirically look at the stats and not the people,” said Hope Morgan, whose family lives in Adams’ enrollment area but instead go to school out of the district. “What is the administration doing to increase scores, and why don’t they want the local kids to go there?”
Morgan and the parents’ group claim that the district encourages interdistrict transfers to Adams Elementary, most of whom she said are learning English as a second language. Failing is acceptable there, Morgan said.
“We’re catering to the immigrants, in a bad way. We have a moral obligation to educate everybody, but let’s raise the standards,” Morgan said. “In the next 10 to 15 years there’s going to be a shift [in demographics], and we need to get ready for that.”
