Aside from students, new sets of eyes and ears have spent the past two weeks inside each Santa Paula High School classroom.

In teams of two, evaluators visited classes, examining everything from how time is used to teacher knowledge and routines.

After school, more than 100 parents attended a parents night to share perceptions of the campus.

And outside class, students, teachers and superintendents were asked what they feel are obstacles to higher achievement, as well as ways to leap over those hurdles.

Santa Paula is the latest campus to volunteer for an achievement audit by the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office. This marks the third year the office has audited schools in attempt to help campuses improve. The goal is providing data explaining what is working and not working at schools. The data is then used to help schools focus on areas that can make them better.

"It's a valid way to see what your strengths and weaknesses are," said David Gomez, superintendent of the Santa Paula Union High School District. "Then, you make decisions based on the data and the research."

The audit is led by Valerie Chrisman, director of district and school support services at the county superintendent's office. Chrisman said the audit team would compile information from classroom observation, surveys and interviews into a report. The report will address 33 standards from the California Department of Education, and there will be findings and recommendations for each standard. School and district leaders will then decide which areas to focus upon.

"It's a long-term planning tool," Chrisman said. "It's a real compliment they realize the value of using data to make decisions."

Once the audit is complete at the 1,500-student school, Chrisman's team will continue to help the campus. Camarillo's Gateway Community School and three Oxnard Union High School District campuses were audited recently. Chrisman said evaluators are conducting follow-up visits to chart progress and train staff in areas where they want to improve.

In Oxnard's audits, Chrisman said one finding was administrators should spend more time in classrooms. She said administrators are now being trained to perform walk-though classroom observations.

Judy Warner, Oxnard's assistant superintendent for educational services, said the audits -- done at Hueneme, Oxnard and Rio Mesa high schools -- gave the district a snapshot of each campus.

"This takes opinions out of the picture and gives factual information to build on," Warner said. "It allowed us to see exactly what's going on in the classroom and what areas we can improve on."

Since the October audit, Warner said the staff meets monthly with evaluators. It's a partnership she hopes continues this year and next.

Traditionally, Chrisman said, the state required audits for failing schools. But she said in recent years, the county realized the value of performing audits on schools that volunteer. The county's classroom observation model, Chrisman said, has even been adopted by the state and used across California.

Meanwhile, Santa Paula's audit report should be complete in March. Principal Tony Gaitan said he is eager to learn how to make the campus better.

"Any school has room for improvement," he said. "This is a process ... something that will help improve achievement."