This post relates to high school only (college prep curriculum or AP/IB program).
Actually, HomeShopping, I believe it is NOT the ratio of teachers to students but the quality of teachers within a school that is the key to college admission. This has been historically tied to the overall teacher seniority in a school. The teachers with the most experience bid on schools for which they feel it would be easiest to teach at within their respective districts of employment because THEY ARE ENTITLED TO DO SO! This is part of the overall CEA rules affecting every CA district contract. The schools these high-seniority teachers typically bid to work in DO NOT have large populations taking advantage of a free or low-cost lunch program or students that perhaps don’t have a decent bed to sleep in every night or a decent breakfast at home.
I believe school “API scores” are a “misnomer,” that is, “miscontrued” by the general public as “gospel.” If a “closer look” is taken at the general student makeup of a particular school (on the API card) the success of each school is measured far differently. Homebuyers tend to “flock” to a particular school attendance area because of a “high API score” but that doesn’t necessarily tell the tale about the ability and tenacity of its teachers. For instance, teachers who are able to take a large ESL student population and propel them into the 800 ranges ARE BETTER TEACHERS, IMO, than teachers who may have had the MOST SENIORITY and bid on better schools (to make their work easier – can you blame them?) I’m not saying the teachers that are exercising their right to bid on a choice school-assignment are bad teachers . . . not at all. I’m just saying that for whatever reason (fatigue, language barriers, injury, etc) they take the easy way out for x amount of years and THAT IS OKAY! A teaching career can be very long and they deserve a “break” during some of it.
The TRUE TEST of a GREAT school is the showing of API scores in the 800’s for students who don’t have access to their own cars, i-phones, high-speed internet access at home or lunch money. An even greater test of good teachers is a high API score COMBINED with a large or very large percentage of ESL student-population (or otherwise disadvantaged population) within the school. On the lower right-hand corner of the API card, one can see if the “targets” were met or not for THAT PARTICULAR STUDENT POPULATION. If they were NOT MET for a student population which appears to be “privileged” and not lacking in any necessary resources at home to successfully complete the grade level, THEN THOSE TEACHERS ARE FALLING DOWN ON THE JOB, their student population isn’t properly motivated, OR BOTH.
IMO, that’s how to properly grade schools. It’s not all as it SEEMS at first blush and never will be, ESPECIALLY in CA.
