SBCSS News and Press Releases

County 2004 Academic Performance Index Base Set

2005-03-15

SAN BERNARDINO -- Students in San Bernardino County continue to improve on academic assessments to meet state accountability standards as outlined by the 2004 Academic Performance Index (API) Base, released today by the California Department of Education.

The 2004 API Base includes a change where individual student test results are figured prior to school level results. The change reflects more sensitivity to the number of students taking the test in each content area and the uniqueness of grade spans. The new method should not change the way the API base is figured from previous years if all students take the test with valid scores and no data is missing.

In San Bernardino County, the 2004 API Base average is 690, with elementary schools at 707, middle schools at 673 and high schools at 624. While the averages are still below the state goal of 800, most are increases from the 2003 API Base, which had a county average of 687, elementary schools at 704, middle schools at 661 and high schools at 638.

There were 439 school sites figured in the countyís API base. That compared with 8,329 statewide.

Thirty-nine schools in San Bernardino County met or exceeded the state goal of 800. Additionally, the number of schools in the 7th-10th deciles increased countywide by two to 116.

ìSchools continue to use this baseline data as a tool to advance student performance,î County Superintendent Herbert Fischer said. ìAs every school in the countyóand across the stateówork to meet state-adopted accountability standards, educators look for ways to make sure every child succeeds. î

The API Base sets each schoolís baseline scores for academic performance and annual growth targets. Additionally, the scores establish similar school rankings, with schools ranked by size and student population served. Schools are ranked academically on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) and compared to other schools statewide (statewide rankings) and to schools with similar characteristics (similar schools rankings).

Districts were also ranked, with the average score for districts countywide at 687. Results of the 2004 API Base are available at the California Department of Educationís Web site, www.cde.ca.gov.

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