State school board to vote on Common Core test accountability

The California Board of Education is expected to decide whether or not schools should be held accountable on the state’s performance index for student results in the new Common Core-aligned assessments.

The state Department of Education is recommending that the state suspend the Academic Performance Index for the 2014-15 school year. The index uses student results on statewide tests to measure a school’s academic performance and determine which require improvement.

School board President Michael Kirst says the state wants to make sure the state is measuring student growth, not just change from baseline performance on the new Smarter Balanced tests.

He added that even if the results aren’t used on the state index, they will still be reported at the school, district and state level for the public to see.