Latest Statewide School Performance Rankings Available

Parents can see how their students' schools measure up academically to other schools with similar demographics by examining a second round of Academic Performance Index numbers released by California this week.

The new data available at http://api.cde.ca.gov include two sets of rankings that show how each school compares to others statewide and to those with similar demographics. The prior index, released in October 2000, listed the growth each school must make on this spring's testing to qualify for awards or avoid edging closer to sanctions.

All participating schools in the state are assigned a ranking from 1 and 10, with the lowest performing schools given a 1 ranking and the highest performing schools given a 10. The ranking is based on students' scores on the 2000 Stanford 9 achievement test, which was administered to students last spring. Schools are also assigned another ranking between 1 and 10 that indicates how a school's test scores compare with other schools serving students with similar socieconomic backgrounds.

In October, the state released partial API data for 2000, which assigned each school a score between 200 to 1,000. That score also was based on students' performances on the Stanford 9 achievement test.

The purpose of the API is to measure the academic performance and progress of schools. It is a numeric index that ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. The 2000 API establishes this year's baseline for a school's academic performance and sets an annual target for growth. The state has set 800 as the API score that schools should strive to meet. The California Department of Education releases "base" API numbers in January that show where a school ranked the previous year and "growth" API numbers in October that show whether schools have improved.

State Superintendent Delaine Eastin noted that the statewide target of 800, adopted by the State Board of Education in November 1999, represents a high level of student performance. Approximately 17 percent of schools statewide have attained this score, up from 12 percent in 1999. "The 2000 API results reset the baselines and growth target for our schools. In effect, each new reporting cycle provides a fresh beginning for every school," Eastin said. "What is important is that, wherever schools are on the API scale, they can and must show academic progress. This improvement in student achievement is the goal of our accountability system."

The statewide median elementary school API score for 2000 is 675, up from 629 in 1999. The median middle school API score is 657, up from 633 in 1999; and the median high school API score is 636, up from 620 in 1999. The median means that one half of the schools are at or above that number, and half are below.

Posting of the new data marks the second year of the state's $677 million public school accountability system, which is based solely on how well students perform on the Stanford Achievement Test-9th Edition. State officials assign a three-digit number to schools based on the test scores and then rank them statewide on an Academic Performance Index (API).

Although one in five California elementary schools reached the state's testing target last year -- up from one in eight in 1999 -- high schools in the state are making little headway. For two straight years, fewer than 50 high schools of about 867 topped the state's goal on the Academic Performance Index, the centerpiece of Gov. Gray Davis' education reform package.

In contrast, the number of the state's 4,700 elementary schools that met or exceeded the target grew from 625 to 950. About 14 percent of the state's 1,100 middle schools cleared the magic number of 800 on the scale of 200 to 1,000. That compares with 11 percent in 1999.

Locally, 12 elementary schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District rose out of the bottom 10 percent although 32 percent of the district's elementary schools-and one-third of the district's 561schools overall-ranked in the lowest 10 percent band.

Schools that improve could receive thousands of dollars in rewards, while schools that don't could be taken over by local or state agencies. A top state education official said people should look at Wednesday's numbers simply as a base.

The most critical elements of the high-stakes index-whether a school met its target and qualified for awards-were released in two batches late last year, but added information should help parents and the public better understand how their schools are doing, Eastin said.

The complete index should serve as a "pat on the back for the high performing schools" and also a "call to task for the ones that aren't measuring up," Eastin said. Elementary schools improved more rapidly than others, she said, because that's where most of the big reforms, including class-size reduction, have taken place.

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