Most Schools Meet, Exceed API Growth Targets

Strong academic performance growth–among the best of California's large school districts–has been achieved by the Long Beach Unified School District. Latest results issued by the California Department of Education reveal that the district had a far higher percentage of its schools meeting or exceeding their API (Academic Performance Index) goals than schools statewide. "Our teachers, staff and students deserve our gratitude for doing a good job," said Christopher Steinhauser, superintendent of schools. "Their hard work is getting better results. We're on the way up. "We are pleased to have a much higher proportion of our schools scoring significantly above the state average in meeting or exceeding their Academic Performance Index (API) growth targets--69 percent of LBUSD schools versus 53 percent of schools statewide. "We are encouraged that 93 percent of our schools increased their overall API scores," he said. "These latest improvements provide more evidence that our school reforms and higher standards are having a positive impact upon student achievement." In comparison with the state's 10 largest districts, LBUSD had greater API growth than all but one. LBUSD has continued to reduce the percentage of schools scoring in the lowest two deciles--far below most other large districts. These local schools also met or exceeded their API growth targets at a higher rate than schools statewide.