The Stanford New Schools-run East Palo Alto Academy (EPAA) recently appeared on the state’s list of “worst-performing schools,” much to the disapproval of Stanford’s School of Education.

According to Deborah Stipek, dean of the School of Education, and Gail Greely, the chief operating officer of Stanford New Schools, EPAA should not have appeared on the list and is in the process of filing an appeal with the California Department of Education. They point to the measurable improvement gains seen at the EPAA high school in the last five years, which they say are well above the level that should have exempted it.

Stanford New Schools, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was started by the School of Education in 2005 to operate charter schools in East Palo Alto. The organization first adopted the high school from Aspire, another California charter school management organization. Stanford New Schools has also pushed toward an integrated K-12 education with the recent creation of the EPAA elementary school, serving younger grades at a different location.

The state forwards the list of low-performing schools to the U.S. Department of Education as schools undergo additional review, the Palo Alto Weekly reported.

The EPAA high school currently has a graduation rate of 86 percent, six points above the state average, according to education professor Linda Darling-Hammond. About 96 percent of EPAA graduates were admitted to college last year, she said, and 53 percent were admitted to four-year colleges–more than double the rate for African American and Latino students in California. In addition, over the last five years, the school has recorded a 76-point gain in Academic Performance Index (API) scores–the metric that the California Department of Education uses to evaluate schools. A gain of 50 points should have meant exemption from the “worst-performing” list, according to the administrators.

Why, then, is EPAA listed?

Part of the issue has to do with the creation and development of the elementary school, those involved said: its lagging first-year scores collided with the high school’s five-year statistics. When the elementary grades began to be added, the official school code was changed and the Department of Education did not consider data from the full five-year period in evaluating EPAA for the final listing.

Standardized testing at the elementary school has also been a challenge in the state evaluation system.

“What have been hurting us are the standardized test scores at the elementary school,” Greely said.

Elementary school tests are administered to only a few grades per year. The start-up phase of the school also contributes to the uncertainty.

“When you’re going through startup, [score level] is going to fluctuate,” Greely said. “That’s not unexpected.”

Working with the new students at the elementary level has been a challenge for the organization, Stipek admitted.

“We haven’t had the experience of serving kids at younger ages,” Stipek said. “We’re putting into practice the lessons that we’re learning…when the sixth graders came in the door they were much further behind than we had anticipated. We had to basically start over again with the math curriculum.”

Facilities issues also play a part. Last summer, EPAA elementary school was relocated to a site in Menlo Park by the decision of the Ravenswood School District.

“Our student progress has not met expectations. We’re not doing as good a process as we want to,” Greely said. She said the organization is taking a hard look at its data and applying methods they hope will produce results. New principals were also recently hired.

Stanford faculty, community members and parents sit on the board of Stanford New Schools. The charter for both the high school and elementary school is up for its five-year renewal this year. Before a presentation given before the board last Friday, Stipek reported that she feels “guardedly optimistic” about their chances for renewal.

“Ravenswood’s board certainly understands our objections to the lowest-achieving designation,” Greely said.

The organization is awaiting the district’s final decision.