Mountain View Schools Increase Overall in State Test

Stevenson Elementary School led the pack for test performance last year, according to numbers released Thursday by state school chief Tom Torlakson.

With an increase of 24 points it helped boost the Mountain View Whisman School District's growth five base points from 2012. Frank L. Huff came in a respectable second with an increase of 17 points year-to-year.

Unfortunately, the gains of the previous years for Mariano Castro Elementary dwindle as the school lost 16 points from 2012.

MVWSD faired better than its neighbor Los Altos School District, where nearly 25 percent of the students live in Mountain View. LASD fell 9 points a figure that partially reflects the decrease every school where Mountain View students attend.

The API is a score ranging from 200 to 1,000 that measures how well students do on a variety of tests, including the California Standards Test and the state’s high school exit exam. The state has set 800 as the API target for all schools to meet. Here’s a detailed summary of the API from the California Department of Education.

Statewide, the number of California schools meeting the state target for student performance on standardized tests dropped by 2 percent.

In 2013, 51 percent of the state’s schools earned an Academic Performance Index score of 800 or above, compared to 53 percent the previous year.

Based on 2013 test scores, 56 percent of elementary schools, 50 percent of middle schools, and 31 percent of high schools are now at or above the 800 mark.

In the last decade, the number of schools meeting the target of an 800 API has increased by 30 percent.