Academic Performance Index improves

BY KRISTINE ESCOTO AND IRENE THIRLWALL
KESCOTO@SIERRASTAR.US
EDITORIAL@SIERRASTAR.COM

School districts in the Mountain Area recently received the 2003-04 Academic Performance Index (API) scores and are pleased with the results.

Yosemite Union High School District Superintendent, Bill McCabe said, “We are extremely pleased with the progress made by our students and staff. We look forward to continued growth in the future. Every four years schools may become eligible to be recognized by the California Distinguished School Program award for accomplishments made. Yosemite is one of the few schools in Madera County that is qualified and we are very proud.”

Bass Lake School District Superintendent, Michael McChesney said, “The school district is doing very well, but we will never be satisfied with the amount of growth because we want our children to continue to grow and the numbers show us the various areas where we can make some improvements. The teachers have taken that into account and we are improving the curriculum. It was also great to see that other district numbers are up.”

Mariposa Unified School District Superintendent Patrick Holland said, “We feel very good about the numbers going up and we want to thank our teachers and school principals for all the good work they are doing moving school accountability forward.”

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell announced that a majority of California schools improved academically for the fifth straight year, but only about half were able to reach their annual “growth targets.”

While 62 percent of schools made progress under the 2003-04 API, only 48 percent of California schools met their growth targets -- a measurement that indicates significant improvement by the school and by student subgroups that are defined by socioeconomics and ethnicity.

Last year, 90 percent of California schools improved academically, while 78 percent met their growth targets.

“While our schools continue to grow, their rate of improvement has slowed. These results mirror our test scores, which this year were mixed,” said O’Connell.

“Frankly, this is unacceptable and I know, and educators around the state know, that we can do better. It is time to rededicate ourselves and redouble our efforts at teaching California’s rigorous standards,” he said.

According to the results, (See Table 1 in attachment below) 46 percent of elementary schools, 55 percent of middle schools, 47 percent of high schools, and 48 percent of all schools met their targets. At the same, (See Table 2 in attachment below) 58 percent of elementary schools, 75 percent of middle schools, 68 percent of high schools, and 62 percent of all schools had increased school-wide APIs.
The 2003-04 API Growth reports for more than 7,200 schools are available on the California Department of Education (CDE) Web site at: Academic Performance Index (API)

Compared to API school-wide scores that were released in August to meet federal accountability requirements, the API information released today includes both school-wide results and student subgroup information. A school is expected not only to meet a school-wide growth target, but also demonstrate comparable improvement for all numerically significant student subgroups.

“Under California’s accountability system, we want every school to improve every year, and we want every subgroup of students to be part of that improvement. It is time to focus as never before on closing the achievement gap that persists in our schools,” O’Connell said.

“The good news is that California’s accountability system is working as it was meant to. By shedding light on the achievement of all students at all schools, it helps us focus our attention on what needs to be done to improve student achievement,” he said.

Schools were expected to meet their annual API growth targets based on the 2004 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) and California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) examinations. The academic performance and progress of schools are measured by using a numeric index that ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. The growth target for a school is 5 percent of the difference between a school’s API Base, which was released last March, and the statewide performance target of 800.

Eighty percent of the API for elementary and middle schools rests on the rigorous California Standards tests (CSTs), while nearly 90 percent of the API for high schools comes from the standards tests and the California High School Exit Examination.

In 2004, about 28 percent of elementary schools exceeded or met the state’s performance target of 800, compared to 26 percent in 2003 (see Table 3 in attachment below).

The percentage of middle schools was about 19 percent in 2004 and 14 percent in 2003, and the percentage of high schools grew slightly from 7 percent to 8 percent.

About 2,000 schools did not receive 2003-04 Growth APIs for a variety of reasons (see Table 5 in the attachment below). Some school districts are still correcting demographic information through the STAR program. Results for approximately 1,260 schools in these districts will not be available until January.

This year marks the completion of the fifth reporting cycle for the API, the cornerstone of the California school accountability system, which was implemented in 1999. Beginning in 2003, California also has reported on the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) of its schools under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which requires 100 percent of students nationwide to become proficient in English-language arts and mathematics by 2013-14.

“Today’s results continue to underscore why California’s API, a growth model based on yearly academic achievement, is a fairer and more accurate measurement of how our schools are doing as compared to the status model under NCLB,” O’Connell said. “The federal model expects schools and students to jump over an arbitrary achievement bar, and success or failure is determined solely on whether that bar has been passed.

“While these latest numbers are cause for concern, I know our schools are working hard,” he said. “Educators across the state are meeting to seriously discuss their results, and are striving to do what it takes to rebuild the momentum that is crucial.”

Portions of the above article were compiled from information researched on the website of the Califonnria Department of Education.

(Note Tables are not a part of this presentation)

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