Milpitas Schools Show Rise in API Scores

The 2010 base API scores released Thursday showed gains across the board among nearly every Milpitas public school. Schools with any decreases showed, at most, a five-point drop in their scores. 

The overall API score this year for Milpitas Unified is 831. Compared with last year, the district raised its score by 17. 

The highest-scoring elementary schools in the district haven't changed since last year—they continue to be Sinnott, Curtner and Pomeroy.

Spangler Elementary and Russell Middle School experienced the largest gains of 46 and 45 in their API scores.

"Spangler and Russell both had targeted interventions for students who were not proficient in previous years, as did all of our other schools," according to Cheryl Jordan, assistant superintendent of human resources.

"Our students and staffs work diligently to raise the bar for academic achievement every year, so it is rewarding to see that they are indeed making gains on the California Standards Test," she wrote in an email to Milpitas Patch.

In terms of the achievement gap, African-American and Latino students continue to score significantly lower than English-language learners. This year, both African-American and Latino students scored the same, with a 709 API; however, it was the Latino students who improved, while the scores of the African-American students saw little change from the previous year.

"It takes a concerted effort by administrators, teachers, students, support staff and parents to help our students realize their academic potentials and to overcome the academic achievement gap," wrote Jordan.

"Our district goal is for all students to be proficient, and we are doing everything we can to make that happen, which means we are constantly examining and refining our instructional strategies so that all students can succeed."