State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Announces Release of
Academic Performance Ranks for California Public Schools
SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today kicked off California's annual reporting cycle of academic growth and achievement with the release of the public school rankings and the Base Academic Performance Index (API) report.
"How a school is faring in comparison to all schools in the state or to those similar in nature is of vital importance to parents, teachers, education advocates, and the business community who are all interested in student performance," said O’Connell. "This information gives the public additional knowledge about how their schools compare to other schools in their region and statewide."
A school's statewide rank is based on the school's Base API and is calculated separately for three types of schools: elementary, middle, and high schools. Ranks are established by deciles.Each decile contains 10 percent of all schools of each type.
It is important to note that there will always be schools ranked 1 and schools ranked 10 because of the nature of the decile system. Ten percent of schools will always be in each decile.
The similar schools rank is similar to the statewide rank, except that each school is ranked relative to a group of 100 schools determined to be similar to the comparison school based on certain school, student, and teacher characteristics. The school's similar schools rank is the decile where that school's Base API falls compared with the Base APIs of the 100 other similar schools in the comparison group.
Along with the release of the school ranks, the state accountability reporting cycle begins each year with the release of a Base API for each school. The Base API is calculated using the test results of the previous year. The Growth API, which is calculated using the test results of the current year, is compared against the Base API.
In addition, the Base API report includes API growth targets that each school and each numerically significant subgroup of students at each school, must meet. As part of his Closing the Achievement Gap initiative, O’Connell led an effort to change the way subgroup growth targets are calculated. As a result, now growth targets for lower achieving student subgroups are greater than for each school as a whole.
The 2009 Base API reports, including school rankings and growth targets, are posted on the CDE Accountability Web page at Academic Performance Index (API).
Academic Performance Index (API)
The cornerstone of California's Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999; measures the academic performance and growth of schools on a variety of academic measures.API Reports and Data Files
2009-10 API Documentation
- Information Guide (PDF; 589KB; 78pp.)
- Overview of Accountability (PDF; 58KB; 5pp.)
- Parent Guide to California's APR System (PDF; 48KB; 2pp.)
- Glossary
- Calculation Spreadsheets Base and Growth (XLS; 156KB; 11pp.)
- Letter: Changes to the 2009 Base API
Previous API Documentation
- 2008 Base and 2009 Growth
- 2007 Base and 2008 Growth
- 2006 Base and 2007 Growth
- 2005 Base and 2006 Growth
- 2004 Base and 2004-05 Growth
- 2003 Base and 2003-04 Growth
- 2002 Base and 2002-03 Growth
- 2001 Base and 2001-02 Growth
- 2000 Base and 2000-01 Growth
- 1999 Base and 1999-00 Growth