Coronado School Scores Among County's Highest

Despite improved performance and continued top scores from some schools, including Coronado's, fewer San Diego County schools are meeting escalating federal education standards.

Those standards were characterized as “unfair and arbitrary” by the state schools chief, based on data released Wednesday.

“We have serious concerns about the federal government’s program for measuring success,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said Wednesday as officials released student performance data that determines compliance with federal No Child Left Behind education standards.

A record 49 percent of California schools have now reached the target 800-point threshold on the Academic Performance Index scale, which measures performance on English and math tests on a scale of 200-1,000.

More than half of county schools have an API above that threshold, and many even have exceeded the 900 mark. Several schools in Coronado, and the Poway Unified and Encinitas Union Elementary districts scored above 900.

The San Diego Unified School District has a score of 798, up from 785 last year.

But for many, that isn’t enough to escape federal designation as a struggling school.

“It’s just plain wrong for the federal government to have a system that labels them a failure,” Torlakson said.

The seeming contradiction between the number of schools that appear to be increasing performance – shown through higher API scores – yet still qualify for classification as struggling schools has sharpened calls for relief from NCLB requirements.

“We’re calling for Washington to do a timeout,” said Torlakson, who said he has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asking for changes with no response yet.

To see a list of individual schools’ scores, visit the California Department of Education website at cde.ca.gov and look under the Data & Statistics tab.