API Scores: TVUSD, 4 Temecula Schools Among Best in County

The Temecula Valley Unified School District once again achieved the highest Academic Performance Index score in Riverside County for the 2012-2013 school year.

Results released Thursday by the California Department of Education—including the 2013 Riverside County Accountability Progress Report, which is comprised of the state Academic Performance Index, the federal Adequate Yearly Progress, and the federal Program Improvement—show, however, that Temecula Valley Unified followed a downward trend experienced across the county and state.

Temecula Valley Unified’s districtwide 2013 API was 866, a six-point drop from 2012.

API and AYP are based on statewide assessment results, which include the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program taken in spring 2013 and the California High School Exit Examination; scores range from 200 to 1,000, with a statewide performance target of 800.

The top five highest scoring districts in 2013 in the county, according to figures provided by the Riverside County Office of Education, were: Temecula Valley Unified (866), Menifee Union Elementary (851), Murrieta Valley Unified (851), Corona-Norco Unified (823), and Desert Sands Unified (809).

Additionally, one of the district’s comprehensive high schools achieved among the top five API scores in the county. The top five were: John F. Kennedy High-Corona-Norco Unified (890), Great Oak High-Temecula Valley Unified (860), California Military Institute-Perris Union High (851), Nuview Bridge Early College High-Nuview Union (848), and Vista Murrieta High-Murrieta Valley Unified (844).

Two of the district’s elementary schools also had among the top five highest scores countywide, which were: Alamos Elementary-Temecula Valley Unified (925), Rancho Elementary-Temecula Valley Unified (921), Temescal Valley Elementary-Corona-Norco Unified (920), Lake Mathews Elementary-Riverside Unified (916), John F. Kennedy Elementary-Riverside Unified (914), and Tuscany Hills Elementary-Lake Elsinore Unified (914).

And one of its middle schools was among the top five, which included: Riverside STEM Academy-Riverside Unified (972), Western Center Academy-Hemet Unified (948), Amelia Earhart Middle-Riverside Unified (896), Erle Stanley Gardner Middle-Temecula Valley Unified (893), and San Jacinto Leadership Academy-San Jacinto Unified (891).

Although all Temecula Valley Unified Schools met their AYP growth targets, the same was not true among subgroups on some Temecula campuses. Those included Paloma and Temecula elementary schools, all middle schools except for Margarita, and the district’s three comprehensive high schools.

The 2013 average API score for all public schools within Riverside County was 777, an 8-point drop from 785 in 2012, as compared to a 7-point drop in the state of California.

For the 2012-2013 school year, the AYP proficient rate in English Language Arts for all public schools within Riverside County was 55.7 percent, according to RCOE.

This is a 1.9-percentage point drop over the prior year, as compared to a 1.5-percentage point decrease statewide.

From 2002 to 2013, the AYP proficiency rate in English-Language Arts for Riverside County has increased by 27.7 percentage points, RCOE pointed out.

State Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson called the federal AYP proficiency targets set under No Child Left Behind  “unrealistic.”

"It is unfortunate that officials in Washington continue to enforce a program they have acknowledged is deeply flawed, and that paints too many high-achieving schools with the same broad brush," Torlakson said, in a news release issued Thursday.

"As an elected official, I'm obliged to comply with the law. But as a teacher, I'll continue to urge Congress and the Administration to get to work, change course, and replace No Child Left Behind with a workable law that fosters rather than hinders the progress California's schools are making,” Torlakson said.

Complete county, district and school level reports can be viewed on CDE’s website.