Earlier this month, the LA Times published an article examining the performance of more than 6,000 third-through-fifth grade teachers using “value-added” analysis that used standardized tests as the measure of achievement, showing that teachers have greater impact on the success or failures of their students than anyone had previously acknowledged. On Sunday, the Times published another installment in their education series – this time focusing on measuring student progress and the perhaps out-of-date focus on and so-called importance of the Academic Performance Index. Though many administrators in the district track the progress of students and teachers at their own schools there is no set standard to recognize and measure student growth. Is a school’s API scores an accurate representation of the level of education that school provides? Or should the focus be on how far a student improves over the course of the school year?

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