Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion LA Times Article on growth

But even those who designed the API more than a decade ago say it was never meant to be used alone. They recommended measuring student progress as soon as possible.

"The superiority of looking at student growth was recognized from the very beginning," said Ed Haertel, a Stanford professor and testing expert who helped develop the API for the state. "It's much more sensitive and accurate than the current system."

But California, like most states, isn't doing it. Developing the sophisticated tracking systems necessary for value-added analysis takes time and money. Budget constraints and political infighting, among other things, have stood in the way.

L.A. Unified is in a better position to act. It has had the data and computer systems in place to measure student progress for more than a decade, but it repeatedly has ignored the advice of its own experts to do so.

In 2006, for example, district researchers and outside consultants proposed including value-added scores on a new "report card" for each school.

The idea was rejected by administrators as too complicated for parents, said Julie Slayton, the district's former head of research and planning who is now an education professor at USC.

"I would have no problem if somebody said there needs to be value-added as part of that report card," said Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who had the idea of creating the report card, in a recent interview. "But it was not brought to my attention."

If student progress was measured, other schools might find themselves under much more scrutiny.

Topeka Elementary in Northridge serves a community where one in four parents attended graduate school. Over the seven years analyzed, two-thirds of Topeka's students scored above grade level, contributing to its sterling API score of 879.

But the school is intently focused on bringing up those who score below. In part that's because the API, while not primarily concerned with students' progress, is designed to give more credit to gains by low achievers.

"It's where you get the most bang for your buck," said Principal Miko Dixon. "Everything we do is about getting those kids up."

Those low-achieving students made small but steady gains, the Times analysis found. The much larger group of high achievers was essentially flat in English and steadily falling behind in math. When ranked by student growth overall, Topeka was in the bottom 3% of district elementary schools. Its students made far less progress, on average, than their peers in Watts, Pacoima and other low-income neighborhoods across the city.

Asked about Wilbur's poor academic growth, Hirsch said, "Once you're this high, how much further can you grow?"

Yet research has shown no significant "ceiling effect." Indeed, many of the district's high-API campuses also show excellent growth, according to the Times analysis. For example, students at Wonderland Avenue Elementary in the Hollywood Hills start at an academic level similar to that of pupils at Wilbur, yet they continue to make some of the biggest gains in the district, particularly in math.