Zócalo's Connecting California
State Gets a Failing Grade for School Accountability
It's been three years since the state got rid of the system it used to measure school performance and progress. There were a lot of good reasons for jettisoning the API, but Joe Mathews says that what we have now – nothing at all – is worse, and he's not buying the excuses for why a new school evaluation system has taken so long to implement.
By Joe Mathews • • 4m ListenIn 2013, the state suspended the Academic Performance Index. This was how many parents judged how their kids' schools stacked up among other schools across the state. Three years later, there still isn't a replacement for the API, even as the state says it's working on a new one. All of this has struck a nerve with Zócalo Public Square Columnist Joe Matthews, who says it keeps parents in the dark and makes schools unaccountable for their progress -- or lack of progress.