District API scores best of any large unified school district in the state

 

 

San Ramon Valley schools once again showed significant improvement in the Academic Performance Index Growth Report according to data released Tuesday by the California Department of Education, with all scores averaging well above the state target. The API measures and compares the academic performance and growth of schools on a variety of academic measures.

 

The overall 2009 API growth score for the district was 914, up 13 points from the 2008 API Base score of 901. The state goal for all schools is 800 on the API. These results place SRVUSD as the 6th highest unified school district in the state and the highest among unified districts with more than 9,000 students.

 

All but four schools in the district saw improvement. Country Club and Sycamore Valley Elementary Schools showed the greatest gains at the elementary level, 31 points over the previous year. At the middle school level, Pine Valley increased by 19 points for the second straight year. San Ramon Valley High School showed the largest increase among high schools, 17 points. Both of the district’s alternative schools also improved significantly. Venture Independent Study School’s results increased 19 points, with Del Amigo Continuation High School seeing an amazing 79-point gain.

 

In addition, scores for every ethnic subgroup in the district also improved significantly, and those students classified as “English Learners” (as a group) posted a base score of 889, 21 points higher than the 2008 Base. “Students with Disabilities” improved by 18 points.

 

“What are perhaps the most rewarding data are the results related to our subgroups. While we still have an achievement gap, I am very pleased to see that gap continue to narrow” said Superintendent Steven Enoch. “Once again, this shows that what we set out to do as a district is working – that is to improve student performance across the entire district.”

 

Statewide, forty-two percent of all California schools are now at or above the overall statewide target API of 800, up six percentage points from the year before.

 

The API is the cornerstone of the state’s academic accountability requirements. The API is a numerical index (or scale) ranging from a low score of 200 to a high score of 1000. It reflects a school’s or district’s academic performance based on annual results of statewide testing at grades two through eleven. Each year, schools receive two API reports, the API Base (reported in March) and the API Growth.

 

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