Santa Maria -- California is launching a new online resource for parents that shows how schools are performing. This new tool on the California Department of Education web site brings together all the assessments used to measure school performance. The state superintendent unveiled the school snapshot today. It's an effort to improve school accountability and transparency.
The School Snapshot shows parents how students are doing in subjects like English, math and science, and even the school's overall fitness. Middle school drama teacher Mike Liebo says the snapshot may not reveal everything parents need to know. He says, "I think the best way for a parent to find out how a school really is is to ask to sit in one day and watch how the teachers actually teach."
The snapshot also provides a school's Academic Performance Index or API. The API is a measurement the state uses to assess academic performance and year to year improvement. Mr. Liebo says while test scores are important indicators, there is more to assessing school performance than just test scores. He adds, "It's one measurement and it's a good measurement for what it measures, but if we rely on that only as an answer we are not doing a service for our kids."
The state academic performance target is 800 out of a thousand. The overall state score for 2011 is 778 and many central coast school districts are above that 800 target score.
