La Paz Intermediate School

 

District Information

School Name: La Paz Intermediate School, Saddleback Valley USD
School Address: 25151 Pradera Drive, Mission Viejo, CA 92691
School Phone: (949) 830-1720
School Fax: (949) 830-3320
Principal: Jean Carroll
My email: mucerinoa@svusd.org

Demographics

Number of Students: 1,128
Number Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 10%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 8%
Percent of Special Education: 10%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White 72%
• Black <1%
• Hispanic 17%
• Asian/Pacific Island 7%
• Other 3%

 

Present Student Achievement Data at 3 points along a continuum to demonstrate trends.

Please list source of comparison data:

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE INDEX (API) The API is the cornerstone of California's Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 (PSAA). The purpose of the API is to measure the academic performance and growth of schools. It is a numeric index (or scale) that ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. A school's score on the API is an indicator of a school's performance level. The statewide API performance target for all schools is 800.  A school's growth is measured by how well it is moving toward or past that goal. Comparison group is the State of California.  A additional useful comparison is a local school that is already associated with PLC/Solution Tree network, Pioneer Middle School in Tustin.  Without the challenge of a minority subgroup, Pioneer Middle School’s API increased from 861 to 917 (+56) compared to La Paz Middle School’s increase of 58 points in that same time frame.  Significant is the demographic challenges that exist at La Paz that do not exist at Pioneer, namely more than double the number of students in the Hispanic subgroup.

*All students/CA average

	1999	2004	2006
API	811/na	845/na	869/716
Hispanic	649/na	717/na	751/644

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant.

Of particular significance is the achievement gains by the Hispanic students and English Language Learners during the period PLCs were implemented.  During my tenure at the school, from 1999 to 2007, the Hispanic students’ Academic Performance Index (API) rose from 649 to 759.  During that same period, the Hispanic student population increased by 154%.  The school’s API rose from 811 to 869 during the same period of time. 

ENROLLMENT AND SUCCESS OF STUDENTS IN ALGEBRA I
COMPARISON GROUP – ORANGE COUNTY

*La Paz students/Orange County average

	1999	2004	2006
All	24/14	28/24	44/34
%above	68/62	93/69	84/73

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant.

(Above) Significant is the percent of students eligible for the State examination in Algebra I in 2006 (44%) compared to 1999 (24%).  During that same period of time the percentage of underrepresented minority students in Algebra I increased by 450%.  La Paz consistently scored well above the county average. (Below) Significant is the percentage of students who met content standard proficiency in ELA in 2006 compared to the percentage that met that standard in 1999.  County averages were exceeded as where vertical average gains on a regular basis.

STUDENT ACHEIVEMENT IN ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
COMPARISON GROUP – ORANGE COUNTY

*La Paz students/Orange County average

	1999	2004	2006
%above	50/41	61/45	73/52

          
Please present additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact on students and/or teachers.

In 2000, under my leadership, La Paz Intermediate School began the process of de-tracking the very traditional multi-tracked program for the purpose of creating small learning communities and heterogeneously-populated learning environments.  Resistance came at the hands of teachers who long taught homogenous classes (specifically honors/GATE classes) and GATE parents who were accustomed to exclusive GATE student environments.  Within three years of implementing PLCs, evidence of improved student performance assuaged the fears of parents and teachers and inspired both interest groups to abandon their long-held tradition of elevating anecdotal evidence over data. 

Two CA Distinguished School Awards and one National Blue Ribbon later, the school continues to function as a Learning Organization that utilizes the power of collaboration to sustain success.  Since 2000 and continuing in 2007-08, teachers have worked together as content teams for the purpose of creating common assessments and analyzing student work and as interdisciplinary teams for the purpose of providing a safety net and a response to intervention for at-risk students.

 

Please elaborate upon strategies you have found to be effective in any of the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Students at-risk, as measured by 3-week progress reporting, complete weekly monitoring grade/attitude checks and meet with the At-Risk Counselor weekly.  Teachers meet as content teams every Monday afternoon (Students are dismissed early) to analyze student work and share instructional strategies and techniques.

 

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

La Paz utilizes a Pyramid of Intervention that begins with transition team meetings with feeder schools, an at-risk counselor, Student Study Teams for students performing below proficient, Extended Leaning Time (ELT) for students at risk at failure, loss of privileges for students who “won’t” and testing and special services for students who “can’t.”

 

3. Building the capacity of teachers to work as members of high performing collaborative teams who focus the efforts of their team on improved learning for students.

Teacher leadership is at the crux of the school’s success.  Teachers are provided common planning time and weekly collaboration time to work together to create common assessments and analyze student performance under the guidance of a PLC team leader who formally trained in PLC practices.

 

List any awards and recognition your school has achieved

La Paz Intermediate School is the only four-time California Distinguished Middle School in high-achieving Orange County, CA - twice during my tenure: 2003 and most recently 2007.  La Paz is also a two-time National Blue Ribbon School, most recently in 2004.  La Paz is demonstration site for the national No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools initiative and AVID, a nationally recognized program designed to increase the number of underrepresented minority students who attend 4-year universities.  La Paz is also featured in the National Association of Secondary Schools Principals (NASSP) publication, Successful Practices of Award-Winning Principals (2006).  La Paz has been a PLC school since 2002.