Game of Broads: South East Cities Middle Schools

Great Public Schools Now isn’t just targeting schools in Pico Union – it is focusing on 10 different areas of Los Angeles that they have deemed to be high-need. I am going to take a look at each of those areas in a segment I will call “Game of Broads”, with one essential question – Who deserves Eli Broad’s money?

One of those areas GPSN is focusing on is “South Gate”: I put that in quotations marks because the area that they highlighted on their map seems to include not only South Gate, but also Huntington Park, Cudahy, Bell, Maywood and Walnut Park.  Sometimes these are called the “South East Cities” (at least thats what Ciclavia calls them, which is good enough for me).

So let’s play this out: if GPSN were to give money to a  middle school in the South East Cities, which school is the best all-around school in performance? We’re talking English, Math and Science performance scores.

The answer is very clear: Walnut Park STEM Academy (sometimes called Walnut Park Academy B) is clearly the cream of the crop. 

Here’s how I decided: I calculated the difference between a school’s actual scores and the median for the all the schools in this area. I did this for 7 different tests – 6th 7th and 8th ELA, 6th 7th and 8th Math, and 8th grade Science.  Then I summed the differences of 7 tests. This created a Outperformance Index that can help compare the schools. Here are the results:

Walnut Park Middle B STEM is a beast. They outperform the other schools consistently in ALL subjects. No other school in South East can say that.

Yet it seems that GPSN isn’t pointing toward them. A recent ad campaign featured a mother from Magnolia Science Academy. Magnolia Science Academy is quite successful, but I think that Walnut Park STEM is an order of magnitude ahead.

So here is my question – GPSN has made a big deal saying they would support the most successful schools, but what does that look like if the most successful school is a traditional LAUSD school, like Walnut Park STEM? How do you support them replicating and expanding their program when they are not their own entity? And does GPSN make good on its promise to support expansion of the best programs, or do they just support the best program that is also a charter? I am sure we will find out soon enough.
 

4 Replies to “Game of Broads: South East Cities Middle Schools”

  1. Mean Old Man says:

    WP Stem’s scores are impressive. The next step is to figure out how/why WP STEM scores so well. If there is something replicable there, then great, let’s see it and copy it. But back to something more fundamental with GPSN. How does giving money to schools that are already successful “ensure ALL Los Angeles students receive a high-quality education” (this is GPSN’s mission)? You are not the only one who wonders as to the true intentions of GPSN.

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