January 25, 2000Academic Performance Index (API) District-Wide Summaries: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David SmollarAPI INFORMATION VALIDATES REFORM EFFORTS UNDER WAY BY SAN DIEGO
The first Academic Performance Index (API) scores released today for San Diego City Schools show that the district’s ongoing and comprehensive academic reforms are critical for its schools to meet the state’s required improvement growth targets in future years. These reforms include stronger literacy and math curricula, better training for teachers, and proposed major changes in promotion and retention policies to help more students achieve at higher standards.
"The most important point for the district to stress is that we are not satisfied with our scores," said Alan Bersin, superintendent of public education. "While I am gratified that 57% of our schools have scores above the state’s designated average of 630, we must not fall into the trap of accepting average as good enough for San Diego students."
API scores for schools statewide were issued by the California Department of Education. The scores are based on 1999 results of the Stanford 9 achievement tests taken by the majority of public school students in California. An API score may range from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. The state has set an index score of 630 to represent an average performing school, and an index score of 800 to represent a high-performing school. The scores will be used as benchmarks to measure whether schools perform better in future years.
For San Diego City Schools, the state gave API scores to 161 schools.
--Sixteen district schools (10%) had a 1999 API Score at or above 800.
--Seventy-five schools (47%) had a 1999 API Score between 630 and 799.
--Seventy schools (43%) had a 1999 API Score below 630.
The API also gives all schools two numerical rankings from 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 the highest. The first ranking shows how a school performed in relation to all schools in the state with the same grade levels. The second ranking shows how a school performed when compared with 100 schools in the state with the closest demographics, such as students on free or reduced price lunch, numbers of English learners, and number of teachers with emergency credentials. For example, an overall statewide rank of 5 means that the school’s API score is in the lower half of all state schools, indicating that the school did as well or better than between 40 and 50 percent of schools in the state. A similar schools rank of 10 means the school is in the top 10% of the 100 schools with the closest demographics.
"But I do not want the district to emphasize school rankings, especially the similar schools rankings," Bersin said. "It is not enough to be ranked at the top level of mediocrity. That is not fair to our students. I want us to be ranked high because we meet and exceed the academic standards which we expect all of our students to meet."
API is the cornerstone of the new state Public School Accountability Act of 1999. Every school statewide has been given a performance target for 2000 to increase its API score. Each year, a school is expected to improve its API score by a certain number of points until it reaches the goal of at least 800. In future years, the API will include additional academic measurements that will be more closely tied to the subject standards that the state and district want students to know.
"The initial API scores show that we have begun to make progress at many schools, but we still have far too many students scoring poorly in schools throughout the district," Bersin said.
As examples, the superintendent pointed to San Diego and La Jolla high schools. "At San Diego High, its API score is 538, placing it far below the 630 benchmark. San Diego High has far too many students who read in the bottom 50% of the SAT-9 test, and we can’t hope to raise its API ranking until we dramatically improve the performance of those students."
Even at a school with a high API score, such La Jolla with an 812, there are still many students whose academic performance falls short, Bersin said. "The API for Hispanic students at La Jolla is 633, and for students who are disadvantaged socioeconomically, the score is 561."
Bersin said that the district’s proposed changes in promotion and retention policies, known as the Blueprint for Student Success in a Standards-Based System, "would give stronger classroom instruction to these lowest performing students while providing challenging coursework for all students."
Under the state plan, schools will be selected for special attention depending on whether they meet their academic growth targets year-by-year until they reach 800. Those schools that fail to meet targets could be asked to develop an action plan for improvement, with state sanctions possible after three years of no improvement. Those schools that meet or exceed their growth targets would be eligible for monetary rewards from the state.
For more information on API data regarding San Diego City Schools, please call Sally Bennett, Program Manager for Accountability and Research, at (619) 725-7190.
