Is California’s “API Growth” A Good Measure Of School Performance?
California calls its “Academic Performance Index” (API) the “cornerstone” of its accountability system. The API iscalculated as a weighted average of the proportions of students meeting proficiency cutoffs on the state exams.
It is a high-stakes measure. “Growth” in schools’ API scores determines whether they meet federal AYP requirements, and it is also important in the state’s own accountability regime. In addition, toward the middle of last month, the California Charter Schools Association called for the closing of ten charter schools based in part on their (three-year) API “growth” rates.
Putting aside the question of whether the API is a valid measure of student performance in any given year, using
