Academic Performance Index (California public schools)
last 5 years

The Academic Performance Index (API) was a measurement of academic performance and progress of individual schools in California, United States. The API was one of the main components of the Public Schools Accountability Act passed by the California State Legislature in 1999. It was last updated for the 2012–2013 school year, and on March 15, 2017, the California State Board of Education and the California Department of Education launched a new accountability system to replace the Academic Performance Index to better measure California's education goals. The replacement reporting interface is the California School Dashboard.
API scores
Numeric Index
A numeric API score ranged from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. The interim statewide API performance target for all schools was 800. A school's growth was measured by how well it was moving toward or past that goal.
An API score was calculated for all students in a school as well as numerous API scores for each subgroup at the school (such as by race, English Learner Status, students with disabilities, and socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils).
Rankings
The API Statewide Rank score ranked a school with all schools in California based on API score, while the API Similar Schools score ranked a school with 100 other schools in the state with similar demographic profiles (including parent education level, poverty level, student mobility, student ethnicity).
Each rank ranged from 1 to 10, with a score of 10 meaning that the school's API fell into the top 10%.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Academic Performance Index (California public schools)” is last 5 years. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Academic, Performance and Index, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “last 5 years” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4671147. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1999, 2012, 2013 and 2017.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Academic Performance Index (California public schools)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Academic Performance Index (California public schools) primary sources, Academic Performance Index (California public schools) archive and Academic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Academic Performance Index (California public schools)”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Academic Performance Index (California public schools)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.