LAUSD Releases 'Value-Added' Ratings for Chatsworth Schools

Chatsworth public schools earned respectable and, occasionally, excellent ratings scores according to results released this week by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The new measure of academic success, embraced by incoming Superintendent John Deasy, is based on the progress a student makes from one year to the next rather than the sum total of the student's knowledge in any particular era. These "value-added" scores look at whether students have progressed more or less than expected. In this way, outside variables such as family income and gender, have little or no impact.

These measurements may come to play an important part in evaluating teachers in the future although the UTA, the teachers' union, remains opposed to them.

With the release of school scores this week, parents and others can see how successful Chatsworth elementary and middle school have been in teaching English and math and how successful high schools have been in teaching English.

In August, the Los Angeles Times made available a data base with value-added scores for 6,500 elementary. The paper said it will expand that number to 11,500 in the weeks ahead and begin listing middle school teachers before the end of the year.

This year's school scores did not show dramatic departures from a year earlier. Chatsworth Senior High School and Lawrence Middle School improved their overall scores while Superior, Chatsworth Park and Germain elementary schools slipped slightly.

The district did not post scores for Aggeler and Stoney Point high schools, for Elementary Community Day School or for Our Community Charter School.

Complete test scores include statistical breakdowns by gender, ethnicity, achievement level and grade level. They also indicate progress made by students who receive free or reduced-price lunches, students in special education and students who are learning English. These can be accessed from the LAUSD web site.

All schools are given numerical grades with 1,000 being the highest. Here are the latest scores for Chatsworth schools (with last year's scores in parentheses): Chatsworth Senior High School, 717 (705); Lawrence Middle School, 802 (779); Superior Elementary, 896 (904); Germain Elementary, 837 (844); Chatsworth Park Elementary, 802 (813).

Scores for English and math are based on how well the school met expectations, given the previous progress students had made. These scores ranged from a low of 1 to a high of 5, with 3 being the district average.

Chatsworth High scored 2.7 for the 2009-2010 academic year, an increase of .4 over the school's average for the last three years. The breakdown showed that male students compiled a value-added score of 2.9 while females had 2.4.

At Lawrence Middle School, males also compiled a higher score in English (3.2) and math (3.1) than did females, who scored 2.9 in both categories. In general, seventh graders at the school made more progress than either sixth or eighth graders, a pattern that has held for at least a year.

Full reports for each of the rated Chatsworth schools are available by clicking on the appropriate link.