Sixteen Santa Clarita Valley schools were given the designation of 2016 Honor Roll Schools by the Educational Results Partnership (ERP) and Campaign for Business and Educational Excellence (CBEE).
The Honor Roll School program recognizes higher performing schools in the state, particularly higher poverty schools, that that are closing achievement gaps and those with a focus in STEM proficiency, according to the program’s website.
It is the only program in the state that uses only student achievement outcomes as criteria in selecting schools.
“We are proud to recognize those schools and school districts who are succeeding in putting their students on a path of productivity that not only leads to success in the classroom, but also prepares them to contribute to and benefit from a more productive economy,” said Greg Jones, ERP and CBEE Board Chairman in a statement.
Found using data from the California Department of Education, the Honor Roll program compares student achievement in English, math and science using 2015-16 California Smarter Balanced Tests and California Standards Tests.
The program then evaluates equity among ethnic groups, equity among socioeconomic status and improvements in student achievement rates from year to year.
Schools that earn Honor Roll status demonstrated high levels of student academic achievement, improvement in achievement levels over time and reduction in achievement gaps.
As Honor Roll designees, schools are given two different awards. They are named Star Schools if more than 33 percent of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged or they are named Scholar Schools if less than 33 percent of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged.
“The Honor Roll proves that many schools are doing well, even those with high numbers of historically disadvantaged students,” said Jim Lanich, ERP President and CEO in a statement. “These schools are clearly doing something right and all schools, no matter what zip code they are in, can achieve this kind of success.”
This year, 1,866 public schools in California were named a 2016 Honor Roll school.
Santa Clarita Valley Schools
In the Newhall School District five schools were named Honor Roll schools.
Wiley Canyon Elementary and Dr. J Michael McGrath Elementary were named Star Schools and Oak Hills Elementary, Pico Canyon Elementary and Stevenson Ranch Elementary were named Scholar Schools.
In the Saugus Union School District, West Creek Academy was named a Scholar School.
“The motto of the Saugus Union School District is ‘Excellence in Elementary Education’ and this award continues that tradition,” Superintendent Joan Lucid said. “The administrators, teachers, students, parents and community work hand-in-hand to continuously perform at a high level, and awards like these validate that hard work.”
In the Sulphur Springs Union School District, three schools were named Star Schools: Fair Oaks Ranch Community School, Mitchell Community School and Pinetree Community School.
The William S. Hart Union High School District had the most Honor Roll designees with seven schools being named Honor Roll Schools.
La Mesa Junior High School, Sierra Vista Junior High School and Golden Valley High School were named Star Schools and Rancho Pico Junior High School, Rio Norte Junior High School, Learning Post High School (Alternative) and Academy of the Canyons were named Scholar Schools.
With the honor roll program, high schools were measured on their students’ college readiness by also evaluating the percentage of students who met UC/CSU course requirements, average scores on the SAT, percentage of AP exams that were given score of 3 or higher, graduation rates and dropout rates.
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