GILROY
– Nearly all public schools in Gilroy Unified School District
passed the second phase of the federal student performance report
based on their high ratings from the state earlier this month.
However, due to low marks in the first phase of the report, about
half of Gilroy schools will not show suff
icient progress overall.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Nearly all public schools in Gilroy Unified School District passed the second phase of the federal student performance report based on their high ratings from the state earlier this month. However, due to low marks in the first phase of the report, about half of Gilroy schools will not show sufficient progress overall.
The second phase of the federal government’s Adequate Yearly Progress report, released Friday, factors in scores from California’s Academic Performance Index and graduation rates for high schools.
With the exception of Mt. Madonna Continuation High School, no Gilroy school that met AYP requirements during phase one in August was downgraded from its status.
To meet progress goals for phase two based on API, schools must have a minimum score of 560 for this year’s growth score, or improve from 2002 to 03 by at least one point.
The first phase of AYP included student performance on English and math standardized tests, and participation rates. Schools that failed to meet the first phase of AYP cannot improve their status even if they meet the phase-two requirements.
Combining both phases one and two, 45 percent of schools statewide met the four AYP requirements this year. More than 300 schools did not.
El Roble, Glen View, Las Animas and Rucker Elementary schools, South Valley Middle School, Gilroy High School, Mt. Madonna and El Portal Leadership Academy are all on the list of schools that failed to show adequate progress overall.
Mt. Madonna, the only school that failed to meet both phase one and two requirements, received an invalid API score from the state because too few students participated in the standardized testing.
“One of the things that makes our situation so difficult is that we have such a transient population,” Mt. Madonna Principal John Perales said. “We don’t have a large migrant population, but … many of our students don’t live with their parents … and, consequently, they’re moving around a lot.”
The school, which has a total of 180 students, has lost at least 20 this year, Perales said.
“It’s just so tough, so given that we turn over students every month – between 8 and 10 percent – the ones we hold on to are the ones we graduate,” he said.
Mt. Madonna and GHS both met graduation rate requirements.
The four AYP appeals submitted by El Roble, Glen View, GHS and Mt. Madonna in late September were denied by the state.
