Parents Concerned as Clifford API Scores Drop

sits perched on a hill at the edge of Echo Park. For the academic year 2009-2010, Clifford had state API (Academic Performance Index) scores of 845. However, for the year 2010-2011, the scores dropped to 818.  And some Clifford parents are upset about that result.

This school of just about 190 students is a Blue Ribbon School, as designated by the Department of Education. This designation recognizes schools that have shown high levels of improvement and achievement in academics.

Principal Armineh Alexan handed out medals on Friday, Oct. 14, to all students who have received proficient or advanced scores on the API test in the previous year. It is a new tradition at Clifford. Proud parents lined the edges of the assembly, snapping photos, as students were called one by one to receive their awards.

Alexan calls this school “a little gem.” Of the controversy over the dip in scores during her first year as principal, Alexan says “I am concerned, too, and disappointed. But we need to move on.” She sees the dip in scores “as a challenge” and has plans for raising them in the coming year.

She also points out that the school, in addition to being a Blue Ribbon School, is a Title I school with a large number of students facing socio-economic disadvantages. Considering the "tough circumstances" that some students, she is proud of their accomplishments.

FRUSTRATED PARENTS

Parent Denisse Ament is “frustrated,” however. She feels that Alexan is “not a leader” and voices concerns with several elements of how the school is run. With a child in the third grade, Ament feels the school is appreciably different since Alexan took over. She would like to see the API scores go back up, increased parental involvement and address of student concerns.

Fourth grade teacher Rick Powels points out that the API is just one measure of a school’s success. The Academic Growth Over Time (AGT) measure places Clifford above the district average. Powels has been at Clifford since scores were in the 500-point range. He says of this small school’s progress, referring to their mascot, “We’re the panda that roared.” He classifies the API score drop as a “setback” but “not the end of an era.” He also notes that scores are less accurate as a sign of a school’s progress with such a small student body. Just 97 students at Clifford took the test last year.

Cecilia Brill has two children at Clifford, a school she specifically chose to send her children to. Treasurer of the PTO, she is involved in several school projects. Although “disappointed” about the scores from this past year, she notes that “it’s still a high achieving school.” She feels it’s “unfair” to blame the principal, and put it “all on her shoulders” after a tenure of just one year. Brill points out that parents, teachers and the principal are all accountable.

Alexan seems to understand that, too. As she hung medals around the necks of high-scoring students, she let the students and parents there know that “the medal is for the whole family.” She then invited applause – not just for the students, but for the parents, families and teachers of Clifford Street Elementary as well.