Academic Performance Index (API)

The API is the centerpiece of the statewide accountability system in California public education. The Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) of 1999 (Chapter 3, Statutes of 1999, as amended by Chapter 695, Statutes of 2000 ), requires that the California Department of Education (CDE) annually calculate APIs for California public schools, including charter schools, and publish school rankings based on these APIs. The PSAA also requires the establishment of a minimum five-percent annual API growth target for each school as well as an overall statewide API performance target for all schools. A school that meets API growth targets may be eligible for awards under the following programs:

    · The Governor's Performance Award Program

    · The Certificated Staff Performance Incentive Act (Chapter 52, Statutes of 1999)

On November 9, 1999, the State Board of Education (SBE):

   · adopted a 1999 base-year API

   · defined the five-percent annual API growth target

   · established an interim statewide API performance target

Base and Growth Reports

The SBE's actions cleared the way for the publication of the 1999 API Base Report in January 2000 and the 1999-2000 API Growth Report in September 2000. This first cycle of reporting was followed by the 2000 API Base Report in January 2001 and the 2000-2001 API Growth Report in October 2001.

Each annual API reporting cycle includes two reports: a base report, which appears after the first of the calendar year, and a growth report, which appears after school starts in the fall. This pair of reports is based on APIs calculated in exactly the same fashion with the same indicators but using test results from two different years.

Changes from the 2000 API (Base)

The 2001 API Base Report reflects the first major change in the components that make up the API. The 2001 Base API includes results not only from the Stanford 9 norm-referenced assessment but also from the California Standards Test in English-Language Arts (CST ELA) of the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program. The methodology for integrating results from the CST ELA was approved by the SBE in September 2001.

Over the next few years results from other standards tests and the California High School Exit Examination will be incorporated into the API. Other legally-required indicators, such as graduation and attendance rates, will be added as they become available.

HUSD API Growth 2000-01

Current API statistics

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