Oxnard school test scores outrank federal target, surprise staff, teachers

In the heart of Oxnard, in La Colonia, a small elementary school of 550 students has been garnering a lot of attention lately. La Ramona, which is situated in a low-income neighborhood known for high crime rates and gang activity, is becoming the shining beacon of its community. And the reason for this — over the last five years, student test scores have been jumping up by leaps and bounds.

Jairo Arellano, who came on board as the school’s principal in the 2004-05 school year from Elm Elementary School, saw that there was a problem with how the students were progressing year to year. While there was some progress, he noted it as “splashing all over the place.” Improvement year to year needed to be more focused and consistent, he said.

“We needed to do something,” he said. “We were struggling.”

In 2005, only 22.2 percent of the students scored proficient at mathematics, and 10.1 percent scored proficient in English-language arts — the latter being the more difficult subject as 97.5 percent of the students speak English as second language at La Ramona. Not only is there a language barrier, but some students speak completely different dialects, including Nahuati, Mixteco and Zapoteco.

Arellano and his staff decided scattered improvement wasn’t good enough and began attending workshops all over the state, hoping to find a solution that would produce results and the students would respond well to. That solution was a process called Response to Intervention.

“It is a process being used in other sites all over the states, but fairly new in the county,” Arellano said. “It is about gathering data, planning and taking action on the plan.”

Every child — not just the ones that are falling behind — is assessed three times a year, at the beginning of the school year, in November, and then again at the end of March, to see where every student is at, using what is called a universal screening tool called DIBELS, or the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. Basically, every child takes a reading test, and if they can read, the teachers can move onto comprehension and beyond. If not, at-risk students are put into focus groups, where they can receive the attention they need to succeed.

The teachers and staff began using this process three years ago, with full implementation in the last school year, 2008-09. Test scores jumped from 10.1 percent in English- language arts in 2005 to 30.7 percent in 2009; mathematics scores jumped up from 22.2 percent to 63 percent during the same time period. Arellano said that was because math is a universal language.

Classes typically improve about 5 percent, year to year. This jump, especially in mathematics, was a big surprise, he said.

But Aralleno takes little credit for the achievements of La Ramona students. He said it is thanks to a dedicated team of staff and teachers who work above and beyond to make sure students don’t fall through the cracks.

“It was just incredible, the staff and teachers here are very, very focused, targeting standards, very clever in developing particular goals,” Arellano said.

Micheline Miglis, public information officer for the Oxnard School District, said that La Ramona outscored all other schools in the district on their mathematics proficiency.

“At 63 percent proficiency level in math — that is tremendous!” Miglis said. “That outranks the federal goal.”

As La Ramona’s test scores improved consistently over the last several years, other schools began taking notice.

Elementary schools Sierra Linda and Chavez implemented the RTI process and saw “huge growth” in their scores, Aralleno said.

Driffill and Harrington elementary schools have been working in collaboration with La Ramona to implement the process as well.

The secret to this success, according to Miglis, was a switch in priorities.

“We are focusing on learning, not teaching,” she said.

The No. 1 priority for Aralleno, though, is not what most may think. His first priority is attendance.

“We have the best attendance in the county — over 98 percent are here every day,” Aralleno said. “You know the number one priority is to make sure their kids are here.”

He said if a child fails to show up at school, he and an outreach consultant personally go to the child’s home to bring him or her to school if a valid excuse is not given.

La Ramona school is a testament to why giving up on children should never be an option, that teachers, parents and staff members all play a critical part in the success of tomorrow’s leaders, and that change, no matter how arduous, can render otherwise unfathomable potential.