Education: academic performance.

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the state board, to develop an Academic Performance Index (API) . The API primarily measures student academic achievement and is used in determining a school's adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Existing law requires the Superintendent, with approval of the state board, to develop an alternative accountability system for specified schools. Existing law allows these schools to receive an API score, but prohibits them from being included in the API rankings of schools. This bill would provide that, as part of the Public School Performance Accountability Program, the Superintendent and the state board shall allow a dropout recovery high school, as defined, to report, in lieu of other indicators, the results of an individual pupil growth model that is proposed by the school and certified by the Superintendent pursuant to specified criteria.