Laton High School's test scores are improving. Everyone can agree on that.

But three groups — a research organization, state educators and school officials — can't quite agree on what made the Fresno County school score better.

The discussion began with the release of a new report this week, "Failing Our Future: The Holes in California's School Accountability System and How to Fix Them."

The report lambasted California's academic accountability system.

It also praised Laton High School as an example of what's going right in education.

The report was written by Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco-based, free-market think tank. It was funded by private donations.

The report touted the educational practices of Laton High and a Solano County school, saying that other schools should emulate them.

Lance Izumi, director of education studies at the institute, said researchers pinpointed Laton High as an example of success based on its test scores and relatively high numbers of poor and minority students.

Researchers interviewed Terry Anderson, a previous school principal, about some changes he'd made to help improve scores at the school. For example, Anderson brought in Advanced Placement classes for students.

"They were expected to achieve as well as more affluent children," Izumi said.

Laton High Principal Jim Reed agreed that his predecessor's addition of several kinds of advanced studies programs helped all students.

"When you raise the other end, too, it has the effect of pulling up the other kids with it," he said.

However, Reed said Laton was improving its test scores before Anderson came to the school.

Reed said he didn't want to downplay the hard work of the young teaching staff. "They just put out a lot of energy and it's infectious, and the kids catch it," he said.

With a student population of about 200, Reed said, Laton High enjoys the luxury of focusing more on each student's performance.

The school has enough time each fall to review summer test scores and to schedule students for double doses of class subjects in which they're having trouble.

The California Department of Education offered yet another reason Laton High's test scores improved: intervention from the state.

Pat McCabe, the department's director of policy and evaluation, criticized the Pacific Research Institute report for leaving out the role of the state's academic intervention team.

The team worked with Laton personnel in 2003 after the school failed to make adequate progress on test scores — something that Reed also acknowledged.

"It was the state intervention team that went in and turned the school," McCabe said.

No matter who claims credit for helping Laton High, the school's principal said, there's only one way the test scores improved.

Said Reed: "The kids did the work."