Year One Results
Statewide assessments were conducted between April and June, with ACEL testing 100% of currently enrolled students in the areas of language arts, mathematics, world history, and physical fitness. Being a first-year school, only a growth target baseline was established for API (548). In terms of CST results, the data showed the following when looking at whole school students scoring Proficient or Advanced:
| Test | ACEL-Fresno % | FUSD % | Difference |
| General Mathematics (9th) | 17% | 6% | +9% |
| ELA (9th) | 41% | 39% | +2% |
| World History (9th) | 23% | 15% | +8% |
| Algebra I (9-11) | 0% | 9.5% | -9.5% |
| Geometry (9-11) | 13% | 11% | +2% |
| Test | ACEL-Fresno % | Fresno High % | Difference |
| General Mathematics (9th) | 17% | 0% | +17% |
| ELA (9th) | 41% | 28% | +13% |
| World History | 23% | 25% | -2% |
| Algebra I (9-11) | 0% | 11% | -11% |
| Geometry | 13% | 5% | +8% |
| Test | ACEL-Fresno % | Roosevelt High % | Difference |
| General Mathematics (9th) | 17% | 6% | +11% |
| ELA (9th) | 41% | 30% | +11% |
| World History | 23% | 17% | +6% |
| Algebra I (9-11) | 0% | 5% | -5% |
| Geometry | 13% | 4% | +9% |
| Test | ACEL-Fresno % | McLane High % | Difference |
| General Mathematics (9th) | 17% | 0% | +17% |
| ELA (9th) | 41% | 32% | +9% |
| World History | 23% | 20% | +3% |
| Algebra I (9-11) | 0% | 15% | -15% |
| Geometry | 13% | 15% | -2% |
Initial Analysis: Looking at the five different tests in four different comparisons, ACEL-Fresno outscored the comparison group in 14 of 20 instances – or 70%. In 25% of the instances, ACEL-Fresno outperformed the comparison group by more than 10%. In two instances, ACEL-Fresno was outperformed by more than 10%.
Sub-groups: Looking at the same data, but focusing on Economically Disadvantaged students, is problematic because the CDE does not report complete data for ACEL-Fresno because the numbers are not statistically significant. All together the CDE identifies 72% of ACEL-Fresno students as Economically Disadvantaged. There were three tests with Proficient/Advanced results reported – ELA (39% for ACEL-Fresno versus 36% for Fresno Unified), Algebra I (0% for ACEL-Fresno versus 12% for Fresno Unified) and 9th Grade World History (18% for ACEL-Fresno versus 10% for Fresno Unified).
Looking at the same data, but focusing on English Learners, the results are also problematic. Though ACEL-Fresno has a higher English Learner population than Fresno Unified as a whole (26% to 18.5%), only Language Arts and 9th Grade World History have enough valid scores to form a comparison. In ELA, ACEL-Fresno has 8% of English Learners scoring Proficient/Advanced, as opposed to 5% for Fresno Unified. Neither ACEL-Fresno nor Fresno Unified had any English Learners score Advanced/Proficient as 9th graders on the World History CST.
Even more problematic are the attempts to disaggregate the data for Students with a Disability. While ACEL-Fresno has a higher percentage of special needs students than Fresno Unified as a whole (9% for ACEL-Fresno and 6% for Fresno Unified), the raw number makes it impossible to form any substantial statistical conclusion.
Final Analysis: Overall, the test results show that ACEL-Fresno students perform better than their district and neighborhood counterparts in a majority of cases. In fact, almost all of the ACEL-Fresno’s testing deficiencies came in the area of Algebra I – a situation that was already addressed before this school year even began. Even more impressive is that ACEL-Fresno achieved these outcomes as a brand new school with a greater percentage of English Learners, greater percentage of Students with a Disability, less emphasis on test preparation and fewer interventions across the board. While there is still room for great improvement, the results are nonetheless very encouraging.
