Los Angeles Unified Case Study
The Bright Education State
Standard Practice System was created by master teachers 
and
test writers to address the need for high quality and affordable test practice.
The Bright System and its vast database of practice questions is based on years
of instructional
practices and research-based methods on what students need to know to raise
their scores on state-mandated tests. In 2000 the program was updated to address
key tenants of the No Child Left Behind Act, (NCLB): accurate student
assessment; annual testing; transparent reporting to parents, schools and the
state; and adequate yearly progress.
The
Need
In the fall of 2000, Los Angeles
Unified School District, one of the nation’s largest and most diverse school
systems, needed to improve the test scores of thousands of students throughout
the district. Although the students were from both urban and suburban schools,
most students were from low income households where English was spoken as a
second language. Many of the students attended what were considered at the time
“failing” schools. L.A. Unified needed a program that would provide focused test
practice at an affordable cost. After reviewing countless programs from a wide
range of publishers, L.A. Unified chose the Bright System materials for a
large-scale pilot study.
The
Results
The Los Angeles Unified School
District utilized the printed version of the Bright Practice Test System. First
the students were given a basic skill diagnostic. Once the students’ strengths
and weaknesses were defined, they began a series of customized practice lessons
on the subjects in which they needed the most help. In accordance with the
California Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) and the federal NCLB,
students
were tested twice during the year, once at the beginning and once at the end.
The resulting Academic Performance Index (API) scores were then compared to the
scores of the previous year. As the chart below illustrates, the improvement was
dramatic and district-wide.
The API is an amalgamation of test results in the academic areas of science,
language arts, and mathematics. Its score range is between 200 and 1000. The
annual growth target for a school is five percent of the distance between its
API Base and the statewide performance target of 800. Schools that have an API
below 800 are expected to hit an annual growth target of at least one point. Any
school with an API of 800 or more must maintain an API of at least 800 in order
to meet its growth target.
As you see in the chart above, all but two of the 42 participating schools increased their API. Of those 40 improved API numbers, 36 increased their score by at least 20 points, a full 2 deciles above the required standard. Further, all but three of the schools saw API growth that qualified them for the 2001 Governor’s Performance Award (GPA) Program.
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