Not all it’s cracked up to be

California uses the Academic Performance Index (API) for its school rankings, with a score of 1000 considered to be perfect. Scores over 800 are viewed as excellent. The API is annually derived from a complex calculation which uses schools’ scores on state tests. From year to year, this is how California measures its public schools’ academic growth.

The American Indian Public High School is a high-performing charter school in Oakland that opened in 2006-07 as an offshoot from the notorious American Indian Public Charter School, a middle school. A second middle school, AIPCS II was opened in Oakland in 2007-08. 

These “American Indian Model” (AIM) schools use the “no excuses” model of education and were included in David Whitman’s Chester Finn-promoted book “Sweating the Small Stuff: Inner-City Schools and the New Paternalism.”  Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the original AIPCS school in 2006 and called it “an education miracle”. All three AIM schools consistently rank at the top of California’s API school rankings. The school leaders are not to shy to say that their goal is that 1000 score of “perfection.”

However, when it comes to AIPHS's SAT scores, the school's ranking is nowhere near outstanding. The other local high schools with comparable APIs (> 900) all have substantially higher SAT scores. One could speculate on the possible reasons.

AIPHS parents who are impressed with their school's super-high test scores probably believe their children are attending one of the “best” schools in the state. They might be quite surprised to learn that their school has considerable limitations with the college entrance exam scores it is capable of producing.

Here are the figures obtained from DataQuest. Since schoolwide SAT scores aren't considered an overall valid gauge of academic accomplishment because the tests are voluntary, the only schools included are the ones where at least 75% percent of the seniors took the SAT. Most of the high-API schools listed are in privileged communities, with the exception of Lowell High School, a selective admissions high school in San Francisco.

 

API RANKING (2009 figure)	SCHOOL (LOCATION)	2009 Base API	2010 Growth API
1	Lowell High (San Francisco, CA)	949	954
2	AIPHS charter (Oakland, CA)	946	976
3	Miramonte High (Moraga, CA)	928	930
4	Campolindo High (Orinda, CA)	919	920
5	Gunn High (Palo Alto, CA)	915	917
6	Piedmont High (Piedmont, CA)	903	903
7	Acalanes High (Layfayette, CA)	902	898

RANKING	SAT 2008-09	Critical Reading Average	Math Average	Writing Average	Total SAT Score	Grade 12 enrollment tested (percent)
1	Gunn High	621	672	631	1924	82.38
2	Piedmont High	625	641	636	1902	75.0
3	Miramonte High	611	634	627	1872	91.71
4	Campolindo High	601	613	616	1830	90.43
5	Lowell High	589	634	593	1816	96.31
6	Acalanes Hgh	586	614	599	1799	78.46
7	AIPHS	510	551	535	1596	82.61

There seems to be consistency with high test scores at these high schools, except at the AIPHS charter.

The possible reasons that have been pitched for what is going on at AIPHS include 1.) cheating, 2.) the SAT being a more difficult -- and perhaps more valid -- assessment, 3.) a particular obsession with their API scores, and 4.) different SAT prep experiences.*

APIs are used when considering charter school renewals, therefore the standardized tests used to determine them can be considered "high-stakes." The annual tests are administered by the charter schools, while SATs are administered by an independent body. Given the conflict of interest, it would make sense for an independent organization to administer STAR testing at the charter schools. 

A similar phenomenon to the above is occurring on at Lionel Wilson College Prep, an Aspire Public Schools-managed charter in Oakland. This school has an API approaching 800, but very poor SAT scores. Perhaps calling it "college prep" is false advertising.

Lionel Wilson College Prep

2009 Base API = 791

2010 Growth API = 797

SAT Critical Reading Average = 374

SAT Math Average = 415

SAT Writing Average = 390

SAT TOTAL = 1179

SAT participation = 97.92%

One loose end about AIPCS is the fact that Ben Chavis and his protégé Jorge Lopez, another local charter school operator, have established some sort of real estate arrangement with the property that is home to two of their charter schools. Last year during the confirmation process for his position on the CA State Board of Education, Jorge Lopez suddenly resigned: “Questions sink two Schwarzenegger Board of Education appointees” (March 4, 2010)

Those economic documents, along with Secretary of State business filings and other charter school records, show an interlocking series of business arrangements involving Lopez, his schools and a close associate, Ben Chavis of Oakland.

In 2007, for example, both Lopez’s school, Oakland Charter High, and Chavis’ school, American Indian Public Charter School II, were approved by the Oakland school district to operate at 3800 Mountain Blvd.

But neither went to Mountain Boulevard. Instead, both schools moved to an office building at 171 12th St., which was recently purchased for $7.4 million by Lumbee Properties LLC, a company founded and managed by Chavis. Shortly thereafter, Lopez started a property management firm, called Sun Management Group.

By 2009, Lopez would report personally collecting between $10,000 to $100,000 in rent annually for holding a 13-year lease on the 171 12th St. property. It’s unclear why Lopez reported collecting rent on property owned by Chavis. Sun Management received another $10,000 to $100,000 from American Indian Public Charter School II, Chavis’ school located at the 171 12th St. property.

I've been waiting all year to read an account of the rest of that story, but nada, zip.

This article describes Jorge Lopez’ connection to Ben Chavis: “The Method of King Jorge: How a former Richmond street tough transformed an Oakland middle school.” (December 2006).

=================

* Added on March 16, 2011: 

Even if the high SAT school kids took SAT prep courses, it wouldn’t account for a 220 to 328 point difference. A 2009 study by the National Association of College Admission Counseling showed that SAT prep courses only raised critical reading scores by about 10 points and math scores by about 20 points.