School accountability: Academic Performance Index.

The Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop an Academic Performance Index (API) , which measures the performance of schools and the academic performance of pupils and consists of a variety of indicators, including pupil scores from a list of specified tests. The results of those specified tests constitute 60% of the value of the API. This bill, commencing with the 2012–13 fiscal year, would require the Superintendent, in consultation with the State Board of Education, to incorporate various indicators into the API, including high school graduation rates, rates by which pupils complete a course of study at an achievement level that fulfills the requirements and prerequisites for admission to California public institutions of postsecondary education, and rates by which pupils complete a course of study that provides the skills and knowledge necessary to attain entry-level employment in business or industry when they graduate from high school. Existing law requires the Superintendent to establish an advisory committee to advise the Superintendent and the state board on the creation of the API and to make related recommendations. This bill would require the advisory committee to make recommendations relative to implementing the requirements imposed by this bill. The advisory committee also would be required to develop recommendations for the inclusion of multiple measures in the API of middle and junior high schools.