Participation Rate
API 85 Percent and AYP 95 Percent Rules
Q. What percentage of students must a school test to get an Academic Performance Index (API) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report? I've been told it is 85 percent by one source and 95 percent by another.
A. For the API, schools must have at least 85 percent tested in each content area to receive a valid API score, including schools in the Alternative Schools Accountability Program (ASAM). The content areas and grade levels are:
California Standards Tests (CSTs)
- English-language arts (grades two through eleven)
- Mathematics (grades two through nine)
- Science (grade five)
- History-social science (grades eight, ten, and eleven)
California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA)
- English-language arts (grades two through eleven)
- Mathematics (grades two through eleven)
California Achievement Tests, Sixth Edition Survey (CAT/6 Survey)
- Reading, Language, Spelling, Mathematics (grades three and seven)
This participation rule applies only to those content areas where the school has 100 or more students enrolled since the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) data collection date. If a school has less than 85 percent in a content area, the API will be considered invalid, and no API report will be provided.
Note: Beginning with the 2007 Growth API, the 85 percent rule will no longer apply to the CST in world history because it became an end-of-course examination with the spring 2007 test administration. This test previously was a test administered in grade ten only. The 85 percent rule will continue to apply to the other grade specific CSTs in history-social science, grades eight and eleven.
Additionally for the API, state regulations continue to specify participation rate criteria for API awards eligibility. Under these criteria, an elementary or middle school must have at least a 95 percent participation rate, and a high school must have at least a 90 percent participation rate to be eligible for awards. However, because funding for awards has not been appropriated and will likely not be available in the future, these criteria have not been emphasized in API documents.
For the AYP, there is no minimum requirement to receive a score or a report. However, a school must have at least 95 percent of students tested schoolwide and for each numerically significant subgroup in both English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics separately to meet the AYP participation rate criteria. This rule applies to grades two through eight on the CSTs and the CAPA and to grade ten on the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) and the CAPA. If the school has less than 95 percent, the school still gets an AYP report, but the school will not make AYP. Schools with fewer than 50 students enrolled are exempt from the AYP 95 percent rule. Also for AYP, a school must meet the API additional indicator criteria. If a school did not have an API because it had less then 85 percent tested in a content area, the school would not make AYP because it did not meet the API indicator criteria.
AYP Enrollment First Day of Testing and After
Q. For AYP, is the participation rate based upon the enrollment on the first day of testing or adjusted as students come and go?
A. The participation rate is based on enrollment on the first day of testing and then adjusted for students that leave prior to the date that a particular assessment is administered.
AYP Grade Ten CAHSEE Only
Q. For high schools, is AYP participation based on grade ten CAHSEE only?
A. Yes. AYP does not consider students in grades eleven or twelve. The API includes students in grades eleven or twelve who have passed the CAHSEE. (Grade ten CAPA results are also included in the AYP.)
Algebra I in Grade Ten or Eleven
Q. If a student in grade ten or eleven is enrolled in Algebra I or higher and is absent from the mathematics portion of the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program test, how will that affect a school’s participation rate for AYP?
A. All results from the CST in mathematics in grades nine through eleven do not affect the AYP participation rate calculation because the AYP reports are based only on the grade ten CAHSEE results.
