What is API?

THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE INDEX (API) is an evolving and complex system. Since its inception, California has seen fit to adjust the ranking methods. This year, six new factors were added, such as including gifted and special-education students.

A “similar schools” ranking was pulled this past March, then reinstated in May after a Southern California parent sued the state for not releasing the ranking’s formula. The similar-schools category compares one California school with 100 others that most closely share its characteristics. Categories include ethnicity; socioeconomic status; percentage of fully credentialed teachers; percentage of English learners; average class size; and percentage of migrant education students, among others. An error occurred when the variable “other/unknown ethnic” category was inadvertently left out of the calculations. An adjusted similar schools rank is now posted on the state’s Web site.

Beginning August 31, parents can check a school’s recent progress at the California Department of Education site (api.cde.ca.gov/ reports-instructions.asp). This is also where current API scores are listed.

“They can look at whether the 10 subgroups and the school as a whole hit its target,” says Pat McCabe, the state Department of Education’s director of policy and evaluation. “The API measures whether students at a school improve academic performance from year to year. Every year, our society becomes more complex, and every year, the requirements for employment become more rigorous. We have to be sure to prepare students for the expanding needs of the workforce.” ——M.M.

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