Ask an Expert: Jim Cox and Pat Puleo
Measuring Up: A Parent's Guide to Testing, Grades, and Assessments

I just saw the API for my son's school. They assigned it a score of 550, and said it needs improvement. What does the score really mean?

The score means less than its advocates claim. But it does hold meaning of a more limited sort. To get at it requires descending into the numbers a bit, and we're here to help you do that.

This system for ranking school achievement in California was established by law in March 1999, and was led by Governor Davis The Academic Performance Index (API) is calculated on a fairly complicated formula, assigning each school a score between 200 and 1000, based on its students' test scores in reading, math, language and spelling on last spring's SAT-9. (High schools' API's factor in science and social studies, too.) Then based on the percentage of students whose scores fall within the five achievement score bands on the SAT-9 (Stanford Achievement Test), the API is determined. These bands, simply described, can be named for our purposes: (1) high; (2) above average; (3) average; (4) below average; (5) low achievement levels.

When more students fall into the higher achievement bands, the API will be higher. Below is a chart that shows the bands, the point values for each band, and the achievement levels.

The California State Board of Education has established a score of 800 as the target goal for all schools. The 800 standard implies that the goal is for the typical student at a school to be an "above average" achiever. All schools are expected to grow 5% each year toward meeting that goal.

Parents are urged not to draw conclusions about the quality of their school from this index alone. There are so many variables that contribute to a school's SAT-9 scores. To assume that the API reflects the quality of any one indicator, for instance, the quality of instruction, would be using the API index inappropriately.

TOP OF PAGE | BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX