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Changes to the 2006 Base API Calculations

This document describes the upcoming changes to the methodology for the 2006 Base Academic Performance Index (API) reports, scheduled to be released in March 2007. In May 2006 and January 2007, the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted several changes to the 2006 Base API calculations. In addition to the SBE changes, several other minor administrative changes will be included in the 2006 Base API. This document first presents the SBE changes and then describes the administrative changes.

May 2006 State Board of Education Changes

API Growth Targets

The SBE is responsible for determining the indicators and methodology for each year’s API reporting cycle, which begins with the Base API Report. The 2006 Base API Report (to be released in March 2007) and 2007 Growth API Report (to be released on August 31, 2007) make up the 2006–07 reporting cycle.

The SBE has authority to set API growth targets for each school and numerically significant subgroup within a school. In previous API reporting cycles, subgroup targets were set at 80 percent of the schoolwide target. However, this method did not adequately address narrowing the achievement gap that exists between traditionally higher- and lower-scoring student subgroups.

On May 10, 2006, the SBE adopted more challenging API growth targets. Beginning with the 2006 Base API:

• Growth targets will be calculated separately for each numerically significant subgroup within a school and set at 5 percent growth towards an API of 800. This means that the method used to determine subgroup targets will now be the same as that used to determine schoolwide targets. (In prior years, subgroup targets were 80 percent of the schoolwide target.)
  
  
• Both subgroup and schoolwide growth targets will be a minimum of 5 points until an API score of 800 (the current statewide target) is reached or exceeded. (In prior years, the minimum schoolwide target was one point until an API of 800 was reached.)

This revised policy means that meeting the API targets for schools and subgroups with Base APIs of less than 800 will now be more challenging than in prior years. Based on analyses of 2004–05 API results, if both schools and subgroups within schools were required to meet the new targets, overall 4.9 percent fewer schools would have met their API targets. The revised targets only apply to state requirements for growth in the API. The Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) criteria for the API do not change.

January 2007 State Board of Education Changes

Integration of Grade Eight California Standards Test in Science

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 requires that states administer science tests in at least one grade level at each of three grade spans (three through five, six through nine, and ten through twelve) by the 2007–08 school year. These tests must align to state science content standards and be administered to all students within a grade. California developed a California Standards Test (CST) in science for grade five that met the requirements for the three through five grade span. The grade five CST in science became operational in 2004 and was integrated into the 2004 Base API (reported in March 2005).

The CST in science, grade eight, and the CST in life science, grade ten, were field-tested in the spring of 2005 and were operationally administered during the spring of 2006. The Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) requires that student scores from the CSTs, when found to be valid and reliable, shall be incorporated into the API.

On January 10, 2007, the SBE concurred with the recommendations of the PSAA Advisory Committee and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI), integrating the grade eight CST in science into the API and setting its test weight at 0.20, as shown in the following table for grades two through eight. (Changes to the weights for "CST Science, Grade 8" are shown in bold.)

API Test Weights, Grades 2-8

CST = California Standards Test
NRT = Norm-referenced test, California Achievement Test, Sixth Edition Survey (CAT/6 Survey)

The following table shows the impact of the new test weight for three of the most common middle school grade spans. (Changes to the weights for "CST Science, Grade 8" are shown in bold.)

School Content Area Weights for the Most Common Grade Spans
Middle Schools

CST = California Standards Test
NRT = Norm-referenced test, California Achievement Test, Sixth Edition Survey (CAT/6 Survey)

Note:  Examples assume equal numbers of students at each grade level, no missing data, and the average percentage of students taking mathematics and science at each grade level. School content area weights do not change for grade spans that exclude grade eight.

The table shows that the impact of integrating the grade eight CST in science into the API is that science overall will have a larger emphasis in API calculations, and all other content area tests will have slightly smaller emphases. For example, the grade eight CST in science will generally result in a 6.7 percent increase in emphasis for a school with a 6-8 grade span, a 9.1 percent increase for a school with a 7-8 grade span, and a 3.0 percent increase for a school with a K-8 grade span. The contributions of other content area tests will generally see a decrease of 4.0 percent or less.

Revision of the Policy of Assigning 200 Points to Non-Tested Students

Beginning with the 2002 Base API, the SBE adopted a methodology to account for students who do not take end-of-course CSTs, first in mathematics and later in science. The methodology, the "assignment of 200," assigned the lowest value (called the performance level weighting factor) of 200 points (Far Below Basic) when calculating a school’s API in instances where the student did not take one of these tests. This methodology addressed the fact that the tests are end-of-course exams and not universally-administered to all students within a grade level. The policy goal of the SBE was to provide an incentive for high schools to encourage students to enroll in rigorous, standards-based mathematics and science courses and correspondingly to reduce incentives for high schools to discourage low-performing students from enrolling in these courses. Due to recent changes in the API as well as the underlying assessment system, it became necessary to revisit this policy, particularly in the area of science.

On January 10, 2007, after considering a number of alternatives, the SBE concurred with the recommendations of the SSPI, voting to maintain the policy of assigning 200 points but to reduce its impact by lowering the test weights of the end-of-course CSTs as follows:

• The test weight for the CST in mathematics, grades eight through eleven, will be lowered to 0.10 for those student records that are assigned a performance level weighting factor of 200.
  
  
• The test weight for the CST in science, grades nine through eleven, will be lowered to 0.05 for those student records that are assigned a performance level weighting factor of 200.

The SBE views this revised policy as a reasonable attempt to reach a compromise on this difficult issue. It ultimately agreed with the SSPI that, although there were valid arguments to eliminate the assignment of 200 altogether, there also were compelling reasons to retain it. For example, data do suggest that the policy has been successful in providing an incentive for enrollment in high-level mathematics and science courses.

Recognizing the difficulty in arriving at an optimal policy solution, the SBE adopted an approach which attempts to balance the valid concerns of advocates on both sides of the issue. The approach maintains the assignment of 200 but renders the assignment less punitive through a reduction in the test weights. In so doing, the SBE intends that the assignment of 200 will continue to act as an incentive, albeit reduced, to encourage students to take higher level mathematics and science courses. Finally, the SBE voiced the intent to revisit the question in one to two years.

Integration of Grade Ten California Standards Test in Life Science

On January 10, 2007, the SBE concurred with the recommendations of the SSPI, integrating the grade ten CST in life science into the API and setting its test weight at 0.10. The SBE also increased the weight for the end-of-course CSTs in science, grades nine through eleven, from 0.15 to 0.22 (an increase of 0.07) and increased the weight for the CST in history-social science from 0.225 to 0.23 (an increase of 0.005). These changes are shown in the following table. (Changes to the weights for "CST Science, Grades 9-11", for "CST History, Grades 10-11", and for "CST Life Science, Grade 10" are shown in bold.)

API Test Weights, Grades 9-11

CST = California Standards Test
CAHSEE = California High School Exit Examination

The following table shows the impact of the new test weights for the most common secondary grade span, grades nine through twelve. (Changes to the weights for "CST Science, Grades 9-11", for "CST History, Grades 10-11", and for "CST Life Science, Grade 10" are shown in bold.)

School Content Area Weights for the Most Common Grade Span
Secondary Schools

CST = California Standards Test
CAHSEE = California High School Exit Examination

Note:  Examples assume equal numbers of students at each grade level, no missing data, and the average percentage of students taking mathematics and science at each grade level. Examples are adjusted for maintaining the assignment of 200, grades 9 -11, with lower test weights.

The table shows that the impact of integrating the grade ten CST in life science into the API is that science overall will have a larger emphasis in API calculations, and all other content area tests will have smaller emphases. For example, the content area of science will generally result in a 4.5 percent increase in emphasis for a 9-12 school (1.1 percent increase for the CST in science, grades nine through eleven + 3.2 percent increase for CST in life science, grade ten = 4.5 percent increase). The contributions of other content area tests will generally see a decrease of 2.0 percent or less.

In adopting the recommendations of the SSPI, the SBE believes that there are sound policy reasons for including the CST in life science, grade ten, in the 2006 Base API:

• Because the two other CSTs in science, grades five and eight, will be included in the 2006 Base API, the remaining CST in life science, grade ten, should be included as well.
  
  
• The state supports the time and expense in developing and administering the CST in life science, grade ten, and values the results of this test enough to include it in the API.
  
  
• The decision to add the CST in life science, grade ten, to the API would not add to the current testing requirements for grade ten students. The CST in life science was developed and is administered to all grade ten students to meet the future requirements of the NCLB, regardless of whether the test results are included in the API.

The SBE concurred with the SSPI and PSAA Advisory Committee that a higher test weight should be given to the more challenging end-of-course CSTs in science, grades nine through eleven, than to the CST in life science, grade ten. The SBE, therefore, adopted a minimal test weight for the CST in life science, grade ten, of 0.10. For a high school with grades nine through twelve, this would result in a content area weight of only 3.2 percent for the CST in life science, grade ten, compared with 16.1 percent for the end-of-course CST in science, grades nine through eleven. The total content area weight for science overall would be 19.3 percent (3.2 percent + 16.1 percent = 19.3 percent).

The addition of the grade ten CST in life science also has an effect on the assignment of 200 for science. Students in grades nine through eleven must take at least one of the CST science tests or the student record will be assigned 200 in the API calculation for the end of course science content area. For tenth graders,the grade ten CST in life science fulfills this requirement. All other assignment of 200 rules, as specified under "Calculation Rules" in the appendix of the 2006 Academic Performance Index Base Report Information Guide, still apply.

Other Administrative Changes to the API

Exclusion Rules for English Learners

The API exclusion rule for English learners (ELs) will change beginning with the 2006 Base API in order to match the rule used in calculating AYP under the NCLB requirements. ELs enrolled in a United States school for less than 12 months will not be included in the API calculation for a school, local educational agency (LEA), or subgroup. (An LEA is a school district or county office of education for API purposes.) If an EL student was first enrolled in a United States school after March 15 of the previous year, that student is considered to have been enrolled for less than 12 months for Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program and California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) testing and will not be included in API calculations. For example, any EL student first enrolled after March 15, 2005, will not be included in the 2006 Base API calculations.

CAHSEE July Passers

Beginning with the 2007 Growth API, students exiting grade twelve that take and pass the CAHSEE examination given in the previous July will be included in API calculations. For example, a grade twelve student that passed CAHSEE in July 2006 will be counted in the 2007 Growth API.

Additional Information

The agenda items regarding SBE changes described in this document can be viewed at SBE Current and Past Agendas [http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/]. The API item for the May 10-11, 2006, SBE meeting was Item 13. The API item for the January 10-11, 2007, SBE meeting was Item 5. If you have any questions regarding these issues, please contact the Academic Accountability Unit at 916-319-0863 or by e-mail at aau@cde.ca.gov.