Yesterday, the California Department of Education released the annual Academic Performance Index (API) report. These are standardized test scores used both for State and Federal targets. The scores are on a 200-1000 scale, with 800 being the State target for every school. As you will see in the report, currently only 58% of all schools in California meet this target. The good news, though, is that the average school in the state increased its score by 14 points.
San Carlos has always had strong API scores, yet I am the first to admit that standardized test scores are not the end-all, be-all to understand how well we’re performing our mission. However, they remain a very important benchmark. On this benchmark, San Carlos schools performed very well again, and our scores grew substantially from last year. Every single school grew its API score from last year, and the District’s score as a whole grew by 18 points. Here is a summary:
- SAN CARLOS ELEMENTARY (district): 900 (vs. 882 last year)
- Arundel Elementary: 917 (vs. 891 list year)
- Brittan Acres Elementary: 907 (vs. 894 last year)
- Heather Elementary: 861 (vs. 814 last year)
- San Carlos Charter Learning Center: 900 (vs. 887 last year)
- White Oaks Elementary: 913 (vs. 899 last year)
- Central Middle: 881 (vs. 871 last year)
- Tierra Linda Middle: 921 (vs. 906 last year)
You can go directly to the Department of Education site to check out the details yourself.
The release of these scores put some of the “little things” in perspective — the bottom line is that we continue to deliver an excellent (and improving) education in our school district. Of course, the budget crisis is the biggest threat to this progress — something that we will spend a lot of time this year addressing.
Congratulations to all of the students, teachers, and other staff members who were instrumental in this success!
