1. January 2015 Jenny Singh, Administrator Academic Accountability Unit
California's Changing Accountability System
January Jenny Singh, Administrator Academic Accountability Unit

2. Agenda Topics
Federal Accountability System: Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
Status of the Academic Performance Index (API)
Future of the State Accountability System

3. Federal Accountability System: AYP

4. 2014 Federal Accountability for High Schools
AYP determinations were only made for high schools and high school districts
High schools and high school districts received Program Improvement (PI) determinations (enter, advance, remain in place, or exit)

5. 2014 Federal Accountability for K-8 and Unified Districts
Elementary and middle schools, and elementary and unified school districts did not receive AYP reports
PI determinations were frozen in place (e.g., schools could not enter, advance, or exit PI)

6. 2015 Federal Accountability Reporting
In the spring of 2015, students in grades three eight and grade eleven will take the Smarter Balanced assessments.
As a result, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is requiring California to produce 2015 AYP reports for all schools and school districts based on the new Smarter Balanced assessments.

7. Proposed Accountability Workbook Changes
Each year the Department asks the State Board of Education (SBE) to approve proposed amendments to the Federal Accountability Workbook, which impacts the calculation of AYP.
On January 14, 2015, the SBE approved the following amendments to the workbook for the 2015 AYP:

8. Proposed Accountability Workbook Changes (Cont.)
Base “Pair and Share” on grade three Smarter Balanced assessments
Remove reference to California Standards Test (CST) assessments and replace it with Smarter Balanced assessments for grades three through eight
Suspend the inclusion of the alternate assessments for the 2015 AYP only

9. Proposed Accountability Workbook Changes (Cont.)
For the 2015 AYP only, base AYP determinations on Smarter Balanced participation rates and the additional indicators
Percent proficient would not be included in the AYP determinations and as such, schools and school districts will not be held responsible for meeting the 100 percent proficient target.

10. Proposed Accountability Workbook Changes (Cont.)
Update the definition of socioeconomically disadvantaged to include foster youth and homeless and migrant students. This is in addition to students who are eligible for Free and Reduced Price Meals and whose parent’s/guardian’s education level is less than a high school graduate.

11. Proposed Accountability Workbook Changes (Cont.)
Replace the grade ten California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) assessments with the grade eleven Smarter Balanced assessments
Replace the API additional indicator with attendance rates for elementary and middle schools

12. Proposed Accountability Workbook Changes (Cont.)
The proposed amendments must still be approved by the ED.

13. Status of the API

14. State Accountability System
Assembly Bill 484 authorized the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI), with SBE approval, to not produce an API in and
At the March 2014 SBE meeting, the SBE approved the SSPI’s recommendation to not produce API scores during the transition to the Smarter Balanced assessments

15. Status of the API
2013: Growth API released (The 2013 Base API was not calculated.)
2013: Final set of statewide and similar schools ranks released (Note that Education Code requiring API ranking of schools was repealed.)
2014: Growth and Base APIs were not calculated.
2015: No Growth API will calculated.

16. Alternatives to the 2014 and 2015 APIs
Schools and school districts that do not have an API calculated shall use one of the following to meet legislative or program requirements:
The most recent API calculation; or
An average of the three most recent annual API calculations; or
Alternative measures that show increases in pupil academic achievement for all groups of pupils school wide and among significant student groups

17. Senate Bill (SB) 1458
In September 2012, the legislature passed, and the governor signed, Senate Bill (SB) 1458 which significantly changed the composition of the high school API.

18. SB 1458 (Cont.) Beginning with the 2016 API:
State assessment results may only constitute 60 percent of a high school’s API
40 percent must be from other indicators such as career and college readiness, graduation data, etc.

19. Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)
In July 2013, the LCFF was passed in the –14 Budget Act. It established state priorities along with a requirement for school districts to produce Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs).
The LCAPs are designed to inform parents and the community on the progress school districts are making on the implementation of the state priorities.

20. LCFF (Cont.)
The LCAP requires school districts to report on multiple measures, which provides a more comprehensive picture of school districts than the current accountability systems.

21. Future of the State Accountability System

22. Future of State Accountability
With the establishment of the LCFF state priorities and the LCAP, it seems logical for the state accountability system to complement the LCAP.

23. Future of State Accountability (Cont.)
On January 14, 2015, the SBE approved the Department’s recommendation to request the Technical Design Group (TDG) and the Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA) Advisory Committee to provide recommendations in the following three areas:

24. Future of State Accountability (Cont.)
Options for moving the state accountability system from a single index (based on assessments only) to multiple measures that would highlight the state priorities
Advise when the next state accountability cycle should be released

25. Future of State Accountability (Cont.)
Options for an alternative point scale for the new state accountability system. (The current API point scale ranges from 200 to 1,000 points.)

26. PSAA Advisory Committee Meeting
The next PSAA Advisory Committee meeting is on February 3, 2015.
The meetings are Web streamed and open to the public.
All Webcasts and meeting materials are archived on the PSAA Web page at

27. Accountability Contact Information
Academic Accountability Unit
Jenny Singh, Administrator
Data Reporting Office
Randy Bonnell, Administrator
Data Visualization and Reporting Office