2008 APR Release

The staff of the Santa Clara County Office of Education has analyzed the California 2008 “Accountability Progress Report,” released by the state on Sept. 4.

The report includes the Growth Academic Performance Index (API), 2008 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Program Improvement (PI) Schools results to Local Education Agencies (LEA).

Linda Aceves, Assistant Superintendent Instructional Services and Dr. Dale Russell, Director of Standards and Assessment, have analyzed the data. In each of the three areas, the findings compare performance of Santa Clara County (SCC) students with all students in California (CA) and summarizes SCC student performance in depth, including subgroup analysis.

As part of the state accountability system, API, a numeric index between 200 and 1000, reflects a school's performance on tests in the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Each school has its own Growth Target in the Academic Performance Index (API), and the target depends on the school’s score on the beginning Base API.¹ The 2007 Base API (released in January 2008) is compared with the 2008 Growth API (released in August 2008) to see if schools have met their targets.

Schools must meet API Growth Targets schoolwide and in all subgroups, disaggregated by ethnicity, socio-economically disadvantaged (SED), English Learners (EL), and students with disabilities (DI).

AYP is the cornerstone of the federal accountability system passed as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The act requires schools or LEAs receiving Title I funds to be identified for Program Improvement (PI) if they do not meet AYP targets for two consecutive years. AYP targets increase annually. By 2014, 100% of students must perform at the proficient or advanced level on all state tests (See Figures 13-16).

This year, the AYP criteria are:

Participation rate of 95%.
32.2% to 37.0% percent proficient or above in Mathematics (depending on the type of school district)
33.4% to 35.2% percent proficient or above in English-Language Arts (depending on the type of school district)
An increase of one point or minimum 620 on the 2008 Growth API.
Graduation rate of at least 83% OR 0.1% improvement in the graduation rate in one year OR .2% improvement in the graduation average over two years.

AYP targets must be met in all subgroups, disaggregated by ethnicity, socio-economically disadvantaged (SED), English Learners (EL), and students with disabilities (DI).

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¹ Schools are expected to increase their API score by 5% of the difference between the school API and 800, or increase API by minimum 5 points. For example, a school with a 500 API score, will need a 15 point gain (i.e, calculation (.05)(800-500)), a school with 760 API, will need a 5 point gain, and a school with 800 or above needs to maintain their API score.