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Pace of Education Improvement Held Steady in 2003 in Nine-County Region, New Bay Area Council Study Finds

Business Wire, Feb 26, 2004

News Editors/Education Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2004

Report Released Before Bay Area Business Education Summit at

Oracle Headquarters with California Secretary of Education, the

Honorable Richard Riordan

Public schools in the nine-county Bay Area continued a five-year improvement trend in 2003, according to the fifth annual Bay Area Education Performance Profile produced by the Bay Area Council, in collaboration with GreatSchools.net. The Profile compares the Bay Area's educational performance against California's. It also offers a detailed examination of indicators for each county and local public school district in the Bay Area for 2003 and the preceding four years.

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As a region, the Bay Area outperforms the state of California in terms of overall performance on the Academic Performance Index (736 for the Bay Area and 693 for California) and California Standards Tests (Bay Area-44, California-35). The Bay Area is on par with the state average in meeting API targets and similar schools rankings. As for college preparation, the region outperforms the state average on the SAT and the percent meeting A-G Requirements (baseline high school courses in specific subject areas required for admission to the University of California).

The two organizations developed the Education Performance Profile to help public officials, employers and civic groups track education performance in the Bay Area, as well as to measure the impact of new public policy and programs designed to improve education performance.

"These results and the best practice case studies for improvement included in The Profile will guide our discussion with Secretary Riordan," said Gladys Palpallatoc, the education program coordinator for the Bay Area Council. "The business community has been unequivocal. Education improvement in the Bay Area must accelerate. We hope to hammer out some solid answers to how the business community can help with Secretary Riordan."

"Over five years there have been incremental improvements in basic skills, achievement of California standards and college access," said Bill Jackson, the president and chief executive officer of GreatSchools.net. "The API scores and percent of schools meeting API targets have increased noticeably in the past few years. However, there continue to be large gaps in achievement levels among the counties in the Bay Area. The new 'Best Practices' addition to this year's edition illuminates several options to explore."

Detailed Results

Along with the average statewide scores, the Bay Area's average Academic Performance Index (API) scores have risen steadily in the last five years, from 682 in 1999, to 736 in 2003. The percent of schools meeting API targets in the Bay Area declined from 83 in 2000 to a low of 68 in 2001 before rising to 87 in 2003.

There are large disparities in results on both the English-language arts and Algebra I California Standards Tests (CST) scores and API indicators among counties in the Bay Area. In 2003, Marin County had the highest English-language arts score, with 61 percent of its students scoring proficient, and Algebra I score, with 45 percent scoring proficient. Solano County had the lowest percent of students meeting proficient levels on the separate CSTs; 36 percent scored proficient on the English-language arts test and 22 percent scored proficient on the Algebra I test.

API indicators also differ greatly among counties. In 2003, the average API score for Marin County was 847, while that of the lowest scoring county (Alameda) was 695. The percent of schools meeting API targets was 92 in Santa Clara County and only 73 in Napa County. Marin County also had the highest similar schools rank (according to 2002 data) at 6.80, while Sonoma County scored the lowest at 4.39.

In the Bay Area, SAT participation and the percent of students scoring at or above 1000 on the SAT have remained relatively unchanged in the past few years. In 2003, SAT participation was 46 percent, while the percent of students scoring at or above 1000 on the SAT was 29.

Although the average Bay Area SAT indicators have remained stable over several years, there continues to be great variation among counties in the Bay Area. While Marin County boasted an SAT participation rate of 60 percent in 2003, the SAT participation rate in Solano County was nearly half at 31 percent. In addition, the percent of students scoring at or above 1000 on the SAT in Marin County was 45 percent, while it was just 16 percent in Solano County. In San Francisco County, 59 percent of 12th grade students participated in the SAT while 30 percent of the 12th grade class scored 1000 or above on the SAT. Finally, in 2002, 52 percent of graduates in San Francisco County met the A-G requirements for UC/CSU, while only 27 percent of graduates in Solano County met the requirements.

"Five years is a short time to effect fundamental change over such a large area or even to measure significant changes," said Larry Fogli, Ph.D., the president and chief executive officer of People Focus. "However, the Education Performance Profile indicates schools in the Bay Area appear to be improving API scores and continue to perform above the state average on many indicators. Focused attention is necessary to continue to make progress and to produce graduates who are well prepared to support the Bay Area economy."

Business Services Industry

Pace of Education Improvement Held Steady in 2003 in Nine-County Region, New Bay Area Council Study Finds

Business Wire, Feb 26, 2004

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