APR, API, AYP, PI: What Does It All Mean?

Education officials on Wednesday released their annual Accountability Progress Reports, or APRs.

These reports, a compilation of state and federal standardized test results,  are used by educators to gauge how well schools and districts are performing academically.

Those figures include the state’s Academic Performance Index, or API, and the federal Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, and Program Improvement designations.

Looking at how Newark schools performed this past year can be tricky and confusing.

One report says our area is making dramatic moves toward statewide targets, while another suggests Newark students are simply not reaching their goals.

Huh?

Let's try to explain.

The state's report, API, provides a "growth model" based on a scale of 200 to 1,000 points, with a score of 800 considered exemplary.

Each year schools are given a growth target to reach via a formula based on past test results and other factors.

So how did Newark Unified School District district perform in 2011?

• Eight of the 12 schools in the report grew in API scores.
• 54 percent of schools met API targets.
• One more elementary school surpassed the 800-point mark, bringing the total scoring above the state target to three.
• The district as a whole now sports an API of 773, a 10-point increase from a year ago.

Cecelia Greenberg-English, senior director of educational services, said district officials are seeing improvements districtwide.

"We’re very pleased with what we’re seeing seeing. Many of the schools are showing double-digit growth [in API scores]," Greenberg-English said.

However, the other portion of the APRs paints a different picture. These results are based on the No Child Left Behind Act, which has a goal of getting all students up to "proficient" levels by 2013-14.

These expectations rise each year. Schools either reach these goals or they don't.

The Newark Unified School District in consecutive years didn't meet the federal AYP goals. The district in 2011 met 25 of 38 AYP goals.

In order for a district to meet the federal benchmarks set forth in AYP, all significant student subgroups in the district must score at proficient levels, mainly in English and math tests.

If a district’s English-learners subgroup fails to meet standards in English, for example, the district fails as a whole, despite having all other subgroups testing at proficiency.

It's all or nothing.

And oh, to add insult to injury, districts who fail to meet AYP standards get the distinction of being under Program Improvement.

Schools and districts may face federal sanctions and fines if they fail to emerge from Program Improvement, which is considered difficult. Doing so requires schools and districts to meet all federal
benchmarks for two years in a row.

The Newark district in 2011 entered its third year of PI status.

Greenberg-English said the AYP measurement is one that is much more challenging to reach because of its all-or-nothing approach.

"Either you make goal or you don’t make the goal. If you don’t make it at one spot, then you're deemed to be in Program Improvement — it’s all or nothing," she said.

So in a nutshell: Newark schools are growing toward their state goals, but aren’t doing so well when it comes to what the federal folks expect.

But they aren't alone.

Education experts predict that every district in the nation will be designated Program Improvement by 2014, the year when all students are expected to score as proficient or better. 

To view the APRs, click here.

Newark Patch Editor Nika Megino contributed to this report. An additional report on the district's plans on assisting students not scoring at or above proficient levels will be published next week.