Rohnert Park and Cotati Test Scores Idle Below State Goals, But the Numbers Don't Tell the Whole Story

Data released from biannual educational performance tests released May 5 show that the 's standing of student test scores in 2010 stood about 40 points lower than the state’s goal of 800 points for the California Department of Education’s Academic Performance Index. The district came in at 761.

Scores are tallied based on student test results in English, sciences, math and history, and are calculated on a scale of 200 to 1,000. Though the district hasn’t kept pace with the state’s goal of 800 — which ultimately is set forth to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind model of tracking students’ academic progress through rigid and restrictive testing — more indicative are the numbers that show the district vastly improved in the last three years.

The district improved 29 points from 2008 to 2008, growing from 711 to 740, and from 2009 schools picked up from 740 to 761 today. 

“The testing is really about looking at the statewide goal, looking at where we are, and establishing a target for improvement annually,” said Gail Eagan, assistant superintendent for instructional services for the district.

Eagan said the statewide testing departs slightly from federal mandate of No Child Left Behind, in that it looks at where a particular school is, and tracks improvement rather than setting forth a uniform testing results requirement.

“Not every child comes to school with exactly the same skills set, the same tools and capabilities … it’s unrealistic in dealing with human beings to expect every student to get to the same point at the same time,” she said. “Our job is to take each child where they are and move them forward. I want to stress that every school in the district is making progress on those goals, and they have been historically.”

A closer look, and the data gets a little tricky.

The state API doesn't track students' growth from year to year, it basically takes a snapshot in time — comparing this year's class of students to last year's, said Eric Larsen, a research fellow with the Public Policy Institute of California, who studies K-12 education in relation to student achievement and education and earnings.

"For example, the API looks at how well this year's sixth grade class did, and compares it to last year's — so it's not accurately measuring how much a student learns from year to year; it compares one student to the next," Larsen said.

"If the federal and state government wants to have an accountability system, and they want to use standardized testing to evaluate schools and districts, what we really should be doing is evaluating how much students are actually learning over the course of a year," he added.

The problem with comparing grade levels year to year, instead of individuals, is that the demographics have the potential to shift dramatically. 

"Think of it this way: this year's class of sixth graders could be very different than last year's, so it could be biased," Larsen said.

One class could have more English learners, more students with disabilities or a greater social and economic divide, which could skew the numbers.

However, Larsen said it is one way to track how well students are doing, however flawed.

On an individual school level, Evergreen Elementary, Marguerite Hahn, Lawrence E. Jones and Technology High scored the highest, all ranking over 800 (Tech High came in the highest, at 844).

But more important than the point ranking is the school’s academic growth, and John Reed, Thomas Page, Waldo Rohnert elementary schools and Rancho Cotate High School all came in around the 750-point mark in 2010 — an improvement of about 10 points overall, accumulatively. 

Furthermore, the numbers, which are largely measured to track students’ learning curves, as well as to document and measure high school graduation rates and kids that move on to college, don’t paint the whole picture.

For example, testing scores don’t account for student individual learning techniques, school enrollment trends (which has precipitously declined in Rohnert Park and Cotati) and teacher’s ability to adequately prepare students for the testing.

Enrollment numbers show a gradual decline in enrollment since 2004, to 4,636 students tested today from 5,437 seven years ago. And, scoring can be slightly misleading depending on how many students were tested. Although the testing is optional, Eagan said the district for the most part has 100 percent participation. The lowest she’s seen it is at 98 percent, she estimated.

Eagan added that many of the schools in the district may have tested lower than other schools comparatively because some have higher student populations that live in poverty and that are learning English for the first time. In many cases though, area schools with a high number of students that have lower socioeconomic backgrounds and speak English as a second language have made greater progress annually.

“Even though English language learners and socioeconomically deprived students are far more challenged, they’re making great progress,” Eagan said.

Eagan said it’s the teachers in the district that make the biggest difference.

“The teacher quality is everything; we can have the best supplies, computers, books; but what really makes the difference is our highly qualified teachers,” she said. “It’s the teacher who brings their passion to the classroom every day that has an impact, even considering the severe challenges we’re facing.”

In the end, she added, is preparing kids to go out into the world, college and career-ready, so they can “be a responsible citizen in this democracy.”