Alternative Schools Accountability Model (ASAM)

California's Alternative Schools Accountability Model (ASAM) addresses the
mandates of the 1999 Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA). This state law requires rating and ranking most schools on the Academic Performance Index (API). The API is based primarily on state required academic tests.

ASAM has been developed to assess the effectiveness of schools with fewer than 100 students, schools under the jurisdiction of the county, community day schools, and alternative schools. As standardized tests do not provide accurate measures of academic growth for small populations, ASAM requires other indicators to show improvement, such as attendance, student behavior, graduation, and credit completion.

The ASAM indicators selected for the SPAS schools are:

	Attendance: Was there an improvement in student attendance at the school?
	Course completion (for middle school students): Was there an improved rate of middle school students able to successfully complete their courses?
	Credit completion (for high school students): Was there an improved rate of earning units toward high school graduation?
	An academic indicator selected by the Alameda County Office of Education and approved by the State Board of Education.

SPAS schools will receive an API rating based on the ASAM indicators, as well as the state tests. Data is submitted for students enrolled 90 days or more.