More than half of Los Angeles Unified School District's elementary campuses raised their state achievement rankings last year, far outpacing the rate of improvement of other elementary schools in the region, data released Thursday showed.
Still, Los Angeles Unified elementary schools have a long way to go: On average, they remain in the bottom half statewide despite moving up. The district's middle and high schools are not showing as much improvement.
Fifty-three percent of the district's more than 430 elementary schools raised their state rank, according to a Times analysis of the state data. That group fueled the district's average increase for elementary schools from 3 to 4 on the scale of 1, the worst, to 10, the best.
In contrast, 28% of all other elementary schools in Los Angeles County showed progress last year; the average ranking for those elementary schools remained at five.
In Los Angeles Unified, Supt. Roy Romer welcomed the news about his district's elementary schools.
"The teaching that is occurring here is the right kind of teaching," he said.
However, L.A. Unified's middle schools remained a 2 on average and high schools continued to average a 3. For the rest of Los Angeles County, middle and high schools averaged the fifth rank.
L.A. Unified officials said the elementary schools' performance shows that teachers are focusing on California's new, tough academic standards in math, English and history that are the biggest factors in the state test scores.
"That sets a foundation," said Principal Carmel Vela-Madady of Erwin Street Elementary, which rose four ranks since 1999, from the second decile statewide to the sixth, which is better than the state average.
The Van Nuys campus raised its achievement levels although it is overcrowded and about 80% of its 1,070 students, mainly Latino and Armenian, are learning English as a second language. Faculty there said their meetings every Tuesday -- part of the routine in L.A. Unified elementary schools -- have helped teachers collectively work on instructional strategies.
The statewide rankings, part of the Academic Performance Index, divide all California schools into 10 equal groups based on their scores on the annual tests given each spring.
This year, results from standards tests account for 80% of elementary and middle school achievement scores and 73% of high school marks.
