Academic Performance Index (API)
The Academic Performance Index (API) is California’s tool for accountability. The API is a score between 200 and 1000, with an API of 800 being the goal. The test scores from all grade levels and all content areas are put into a formula to generate the API.
Schools have growth targets each year for the whole school and for numerically significant subgroups based on ethnicity, special programs (English Learners and Special Education), and economic status. Districts receive an API, but not growth targets.
This link leads to the California Department of Education API reporting web site.
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) schools and districts are required to increase the percentage of students scoring Proficient and Advanced in English/Language Arts and Mathematics on state tests each year. This growth, called Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), is measured for the whole school and for numerically significant subgroups based on ethnicity, special programs (English Learners and Special Education), and economic status.
Sanctions are applied to schools that miss the same target two years in a row. Those schools become Program Improvement (PI) schools. A school that misses a target one year is referred to as being on “watch” for becoming PI. The same system is applied to school districts.
The link below provide access to the California Department of Education web site for reporting AYP.
Other useful links
