May 20, 2011
Earlier this month, the State of California released information on the 2010 Base Academic Performance Index (API) to the public. In the API Base reports, schools are ranked in two different ways. The first system is referred to as the Statewide Rank. It compares a school to other schools of the same type in the entire state. The second system is called the Similar School Rank. It compares a school to 100 other schools with similar demographic characteristics.
The demographic characteristics used in the 2010 Base API ranks for Similar Schools includes the following information:
• Pupil mobility
• Pupil ethnicity
• Pupil socioeconomic status (participation in the free and reduced lunch program and parent education level)
• Percentage of pupils who are English learners (ELs)
• Whether the school operates a multi-track year-round educational program
• Percentage of grade span enrollments from 2nd to 11th grade
• Percentage of students in gifted and talented education program
• Percentage of students with disabilities
• Percentage of reclassified fluent-English-proficient (RFEP) students
• Percentage of migrant education students.
In examining our 2010 Base API reports, Albany Unified School District has determined that an error occurred in the reporting of the percentage of students participating in the free and reduced lunch program across the district. The percentage of students is an important element in determining both our statewide and similar schools rankings. The district is currently working with Education Testing Services and the Accountability and Assessment Unit at California Department of Education to correct these errors. Once the corrections are made, the base API will be recalculated, re-released, and reported to the Board of Education and the community.
AUSD is working diligently to ensure that all the data reported to the public is accurate. We have located the issue in our database and are taking measures to permanently correct the fields that were the source of the incorrect numbers. We want to apologize to the Albany community and ask for your understanding as we move through this process of correcting the information.
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Earlier this month, the State of California released information on the 2010 Base Academic Performance Index (API) to the public. In the API Base reports, schools are ranked in two different ways. The first system is referred to as the Statewide Rank. It compares a school to other schools of the same type in the entire state. The second system is called the Similar School Rank. It compares a school to 100 other schools with similar demographic characteristics.
The demographic characteristics used in the 2010 Base API ranks for Similar Schools includes the following information:
• Pupil mobility
• Pupil ethnicity
• Pupil socioeconomic status (participation in the free and reduced lunch program and parent education level)
• Percentage of pupils who are English learners (ELs)
• Whether the school operates a multi-track year-round educational program
• Percentage of grade span enrollments from 2nd to 11th grade
• Percentage of students in gifted and talented education program
• Percentage of students with disabilities
• Percentage of reclassified fluent-English-proficient (RFEP) students
• Percentage of migrant education students.
In examining our 2010 Base API reports, Albany Unified School District has determined that an error occurred in the reporting of the percentage of students participating in the free and reduced lunch program across the district. The percentage of students is an important element in determining both our statewide and similar schools rankings. The district is currently working with Education Testing Services and the Accountability and Assessment Unit at California Department of Education to correct these errors. Once the corrections are made, the base API will be recalculated, re-released, and reported to the Board of Education and the community.
AUSD is working diligently to ensure that all the data reported to the public is accurate. We have located the issue in our database and are taking measures to permanently correct the fields that were the source of the incorrect numbers. We want to apologize to the Albany community and ask for your understanding as we move through this process of correcting the information.
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