District Surpasses the Academic Performance Index (API) Target for the State

California's Academic Performance Index (API) results for 2012 show San Diego Unified’s overall score at 808, up 11 points from 2011, and above the state target of 800. Among other large districts in California, only three exceed 800: Garden Grove is first at 815; San Diego is second at 808, and San Francisco is third at 807. The results were released Oct. 11, 2012.

“San Diego Unified has passed the 800 target set by the state for the first time, following six years of continuous growth,” said Deputy Superintendent of Academics Nellie Meyer. “This improvement is a testament to the focused, dedicated work of our teachers, principals, and support staff. We are also seeing the benefits of our analysis of student data and community involvement."

The district now has 113 schools scoring at 800 or above, and 33 scoring 900 or higher, up from 2011 in both categories. Schools making outstanding strides include: Baker Elementary School with a score of 820, up 77 points from 2011; Hamilton Elementary at 792, up 78 points; Foster Elementary at 844, up 59 points; Pacific Beach Middle School at 817, up 50 points; and Scripps Ranch High School at 900, the only high school in the district to be at 900 or above.

State Superintendent of Public Education Tom Torlakson noted that statewide, 59 percent of elementary schools met the state’s 800 target, 49 percent of middle schools met target, and 30 percent of high schools were 800 or above. In San Diego Unified, 62 percent of elementary schools met the state target, along with 61 percent of middle schools, and 31 percent of high schools.

The Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measure is used by the federal Department of Education to determine if a school or district meets NCLB’s annual growth standards. Those that do not are placed on Program Improvement after two years. Despite the improved scores, 126 schools are now in Program Improvement under NCLB, up from 113 last year. School targets increased by about 10 percentage points over 2011. Standley Middle School in University City was the only district school to exit Program Improvement.

San Diego Unified did not make AYP under NCLB. The district continues in Year 3 of Program Improvement (districts are not incremented past Year 3), and must continue to implement the Local Educational Agency (LEA) Plan that was developed last year to align with the priorities contained in the district's Strategic Process.

Among student groups, some achievement gaps continued to slowly narrow. For example, while White students had a gain of 9 API points to 898 and Asian students' scores rose 3 points to 881; Black or African American students were up 15 points to 739, Hispanic or Latino students were up 14 points to 746, and English Learner students increased 12 points to 728.

“While we celebrate these successes, the results also continue to show that we have groups where we must accelerate achievement to close performance gaps,” Meyer said.

For scores of districts and individual schools, go to the state's website at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ar 

Read more in U-T San Diego>>