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TITLE:
California's Accountability System and the API. Expert Report. Submitted for: Eliezer Williams vs. State of California.

AUTHOR(S):
Michael Russell

DOCUMENT TYPE: Report

Link to Document: California's Accountability System and the API. Expert Report. Submitted for: Eliezer Williams vs. State of California.

ABSTRACT:
This paper was presented as expert testimony in the Williams vs. State of California class action lawsuit. That case, filed on behalf of California public schoolchildren, charged the State with denying thousands of students the basic tools for a sound education. This paper addresses whether California's current output-based accountability system accurately and sufficiently notifies the state of whether students receive essentials required for learning and, if not, whether there are alternatives to California's current accountability system. It suggests that California's Academic Performance Index (API) is incapable of providing the type of information that state policymakers need to make informed decisions about which schools need help and how to help them, noting that California's attempt to establish an educational accountability system over the past decade has been tumultuous. Seven sections examine: "History of Educational Assessment and Accountability in California"; "California's Current Index of Accountability: the API"; (3) "California's Outcome Based Accountability System Cannot Help Students Receive the Kind of Education They Deserve"; (4) "The AP is Not Even an Adequate or Useful Measure of Student Academic Achievement"; (5) "California's Accountability System is a Product of Questionable Policy Decisions Made by State Officials"; (6) "The API Encourages Poor Educational Practices"; and (7) "What Must be Done?" Key points include: the API cannot achieve the goals of a state accountability system; higher APIs do not necessarily indicated improved student achievement; low API scores say nothing about why they are low; and the API system is not an adequate outcome measure. (Contains 58 references.) (SM)