Summary Base API Data 2000-2004
I've created an Excel spreadsheet that shows some of the highlights of the Base API data for all SFUSD schools for the years from 2000 through 2004: sfusd-api-base-summary.xls
The spreadsheet shows four years of API, Rank, and Similar schools scores. It also shows the School Characteristic Index, or SCI, for each school for all four years. All the data for each school is in one row. The goal is to present the complete progression of the high level summary data for each school at a glance. You can see if their rank and similar schools scores are changing over time, see if the SCI is changing, all by scanning one line of data. And the data is in spreadsheet form to make it easy for those of you who like to play with the data.
This file was created from the data I published earlier in the post Complete API data for SFUSD, '99-'05. The new file does not cover the 1999 data since the state has not published this data in a format that is easily comparable with the other years. I've also limited myself to SFUSD schools and omitted the county schools as well as most charters. Schools without four full years of data were generally excluded from the summary file.
There is a great deal to know about how the API, Rank, Similar, and SCI data are calculated, and what they mean. I tried my hand at explaining it last year in a two School Beat articles published at BeyondChron titled "The Affluent Parents Index" (Part I) and (Part II). Do not impute too much meaning in a school's API scores. Many of the schools that have fared badly in the API regime are actually doing quite well and offer many compelling programs taught by great teachers. Also keep in mind that the basis for API scores changes from year to year, making simple comparisons of API scores from different years problematic.
Standardized test scores are just one measure of a school, and a very limited one at that. Yet, they get a lot of publicity and attention, so I'm trying to do my part to present the data clearly and in context in the hope that it will be useful for families struggling with the difficult task of picking a good school for their kids.
The spreadsheet shows four years of API, Rank, and Similar schools scores. It also shows the School Characteristic Index, or SCI, for each school for all four years. All the data for each school is in one row. The goal is to present the complete progression of the high level summary data for each school at a glance. You can see if their rank and similar schools scores are changing over time, see if the SCI is changing, all by scanning one line of data. And the data is in spreadsheet form to make it easy for those of you who like to play with the data.
This file was created from the data I published earlier in the post Complete API data for SFUSD, '99-'05. The new file does not cover the 1999 data since the state has not published this data in a format that is easily comparable with the other years. I've also limited myself to SFUSD schools and omitted the county schools as well as most charters. Schools without four full years of data were generally excluded from the summary file.
There is a great deal to know about how the API, Rank, Similar, and SCI data are calculated, and what they mean. I tried my hand at explaining it last year in a two School Beat articles published at BeyondChron titled "The Affluent Parents Index" (Part I) and (Part II). Do not impute too much meaning in a school's API scores. Many of the schools that have fared badly in the API regime are actually doing quite well and offer many compelling programs taught by great teachers. Also keep in mind that the basis for API scores changes from year to year, making simple comparisons of API scores from different years problematic.
Standardized test scores are just one measure of a school, and a very limited one at that. Yet, they get a lot of publicity and attention, so I'm trying to do my part to present the data clearly and in context in the hope that it will be useful for families struggling with the difficult task of picking a good school for their kids.
1 Comments:
thanks again kc for all the great data and info.
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