Api for schools: The 20 Best Education APIs In 2022

The API: 10 things parents should know

1. The API is not a test.

Rather, the API is a school performance measurement system that was first developed as part of California’s 1999 Public Schools Accountability Act. Each year, the state calculates the Base API for each school to establish a baseline for the school’s academic performance, and it sets an annual target for growth. Each summer, the state announces the Growth API for each school, which reflects growth in the API from year to year.

The 2011 Base API, released in May 2012, is calculated using each school’s test results from the California Standards Tests (CSTs — state tests designed to see how students are learning state standards), the California Modified Assessment (CMA), the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) and the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE).

The 2012 Growth API, which will be released in September 2012, shows the school’s academic growth for the year. It is calculated in the same way as the 2011 Base API.

2. The API measures both school performance and improvement.

The API can be used to see how well a school did on tests in any given year, as well as to track school progress over time. Each year, parents can review a school’s API number, which shows how well it did relative to the state’s goal of 800, and also check the school’s growth from the previous year. To make it an accurate measure of school improvement, the Base API calculation only includes test results of students who were in the district during the previous school year. The Growth API is calculated using results of students from the current school year.

3. The API has very high stakes.

Due to the spotlight on API results from newspapers and the state, schools are under tremendous pressure to increase test scores and improve their APIs. While some argue that this pressure encourages schools to improve classroom instruction, others are afraid that schools will shortchange rich curricular programs in favor of test preparation drills.

4. The API measures academic performance, not school quality.

As a parent, you may have heard people say things like, “The school has an API of 750, so it must be a great school,” or “The API is only 550? What’s wrong with this school?” While these simple assessments are tempting, be careful about jumping to conclusions based on a school’s API alone. Before making any overall judgments about a school’s quality, be sure to look at its API improvement as well as other key factors, including teacher experience, parent involvement and special programs.

5. The API focuses on achievement for all students.

The API is designed to show how well schools are serving students across all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. For this reason, separate APIs are calculated for each of a school’s statistically significant subgroups, which include any ethnic groups that account for a significant percentage of the school’s population. If “numerically significant,” APIs are also calculated for a school’s socioeconomically disadvantaged students (students who qualify for the subsidized lunch program or who don’t have a parent with a high school degree), English learners, and students with disabilities.

6. Schools that don’t improve their APIs must get help.

If a school doesn’t meet its API growth target and has one of the lower Base APIs in the state, it may receive grants and special assistance to help with improvement efforts. If a school continues to fall short of its target, it may eventually be subject to strong local or state sanctions, including reassigning the principal (subject to a public hearing), reorganization or even school closure.

7. API results are for schools and districts only.

There is no such thing as an individual student API. The API is based on scores from the CSTs, the CMA, the CAPA and the CAHSEE. The API measures how a school’s or district’s academic performance improves from year to year.

8. The API has changed.

It used to include just the results of the norm-referenced tests — in the first years, the Stanford 9 tests and later the CAT/6. These tests compared California students to their peers nationwide. In recent years the emphasis has shifted to include more results from the CSTs, which more accurately reflect what California students are expected to learn in the classroom, and fewer results from the CAT/6. In early 2009, the CAT/6 Survey was eliminated entirely as a testing tool in the state. 

In 2001-2002, CSTs in English language arts (for grades 2 through 11) were added to API calculations. Scores from CSTs in math (for grades 2 through 11), social science (for grades 10 and 11), and the CAHSEE were added in 2002-2003 to provide a more accurate picture of what students have learned. In 2003-2004, CST science tests in grades 9 through 11 and the CAPA in language and math in grades 2 through 11 were added. Since 2004-2005 even more indicators have been added. The API now includes the CST in science for grades 5 and 8 through 11 and in history-social science for grades 8 through 11. In 2008, the California Modified Assessment (CMA) was added to the API for grades 3 through 5. Grades 6 through 8 of the CMA were added in 2010.

9. The API is complicated.

If the whole topic of the API confuses you, you’re not alone. Educators and parents alike struggle to understand where the API comes from, how it’s calculated and what exactly it means. Here’s the bottom line: APIs range from 200 to 1000 and the goal for all schools is 800. The API is based on test scores and is calculated in a way that encourages schools to raise the test scores of the lowest-scoring students.

10. GreatSchools Ratings and the California API are different.

GreatSchools also calculates a rating on a scale of 1 to 10 based on California test results. There are several important differences between GreatSchools Ratings and California API Ranks:

• API Ranks are created by the California Department of Education. GreatSchools Ratings are created by GreatSchools.
• The API is calculated using results from the CSTs, CMA, CAHSEE, and the CAPA. GreatSchools Ratings are calculated using the CSTs only. For additional information on GreatSchools Ratings, check our frequently asked questions.
• Some test subjects count more than others in the API.
• The API includes all 5 levels of proficiency (far below basic, below basic, basic, proficient or advanced), each receiving a different number of points toward the total API. The API is calculated this way to encourage improvement in test scores. GreatSchools Ratings use only the percent of students who scored at the proficient and advanced levels. GreatSchools Ratings show how the percentage of students on grade level at a school compared to schools across the state.

Top 10 Education APIs | ProgrammableWeb

Editor’s Note: This article was published in it’s original form in May, 2019. It has been updated to provide the current most popular Sports APIs based on page visits to ProgrammableWeb.

Education technology is changing the way instructors teach and the way students learn. As education becomes more tech-savvy, better tools are needed to provide interoperability and efficiency for educators and students. Developers are stepping up to create applications that are useful for the classroom, and they are looking to the ProgrammableWeb Education category to find the best APIs to use for their “EdTech” apps.

An Education API is an Application Programming Interface in which developers can get data about education, or add educational functions to applications.

In this category, expect to find APIs for Learning Management Systems, online learning courses, school, and student administration, locating great schools, integrating teaching tools such as flashcards, test preparation, standards implementation, sharing resources, getting donations for the classroom and much more.

Developers wishing to get a glimpse of what Education APIs are available should check out this list of ten popular choices from ProgrammableWeb members, as determined by recent website visits.

1. Quizlet Flashcards API

Quizlet is a flashcard study website with 2 million registered users and more than 7 million flashcard sets. The Quizlet APITrack this API lets developers use Quizlet’s database of over 200 million flashcards covering every possible subject. The API enables users to search, download, edit and upload flashcard sets, mark sets as favorites, create, edit and join groups, search for definitions and more.

Integrate flashcards into apps with Quizlet API. Screenshot Quizlet/jessmichaud488

2. Online Compiler API

The Online Compiler APITrack this API enables program execution in 72 languages. The API can be integrated with computer education applications. Additionally, this API can be used in online interview assessment systems. The Online Compiler API features REST architecture and JSON responses.

3. Khan Academy API

Khan Academy provides free online education tools. The site contains over 3,200 online videos covering subjects from finance and physics to math and art. The Khan Academy APITrack this API gives developers access to nearly all of the data stored on the site categorized by playlists, wherein users can discover videos or get information about the exercises for each. The API also returns information about badges awarded via the exercise dashboard. The API methods are split into topics, videos, exercises, badges, and user data.

4. University Domains and Names Data List API

The University Domains and Names Data List APITrack this API from Hipo Labs retrieves JSON files with domains, names, and countries of national and international universities.

5. IT Bookstore API

The IT Bookstore APITrack this API enables users to search the IT Bookstore database for available books. IT Bookstore is a California-based IT, Programming, and Computer Science bookseller.

6. Moodle API

Moodle is an open-source learning management system (LMS) designed to teach with social constructionist theories. Educators and students can benefit from this modular PHP system that aims to personalize learning environments. The Moodle Core APITrack this API offers functions for Access, Data Manipulation, and Navigation, as well as Calendar, Enrollment, Media, and many others.

7. Blackboard API

Blackboard Learn is designed to help educators involved in K-12, higher education, government, and business engage with learners on whatever devices they use. The Blackboard Learn APITrack this API allows developers to manage announcements, courses, content, course memberships, course grades, data sources, and more. It allows users to build course content, host discussions, send targeted notifications, and use analytics to track learners’ progress.

Screenshot: Blackboard

8. GreatSchools API

GreatSchools is a non-profit that provides school information and parenting resources to help families choose the right school, as well as support learning at home. The GreatSchools APITrack this API enables users to find nearby U.S. schools by zip code, city or full address. The API returns information about each school, including reviews from users or students’ test scores.

GreatSchools API returns the location, number of students, and ratings of schools in the U.S. Screenshot: GreatSchools

9. Owlbot API

The OwlBot Dictionary APITrack this API allows developers to get definitions and, in some cases, example sentences for English words. OwlBot searches the internet for English vocabulary definitions and saves them to its database. The Dictionary API is provided free for public use.

10. Scratch API

Scratch is a free Resource geared toward educating children on animation technology and web development tools. Scratch APITrack this API can be used to program interactive games, stories, and animations within their online editor. Version 3.0 of the API features a new design, and is compatible with many mobile devices. Retrieve and manage data such as associated username, date of creation, description of the project, ID, the project thumbnail, the title of the project, and the project’s URL source.

Education API Overview – Microsoft Graph

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The Microsoft Graph API extends Microsoft 365 resources with information relevant to schools, including information about institutions, classes, users (students and teachers), assignments, and submissions. This simplifies the creation of solutions that integrate with educational resources for various scenarios in educational institutions and classrooms. nine0003

Why integration with education scenarios?

Build applications that work with the course list

Most software developers quickly realize that the course list is one of the most important resources for running an application. It is usually hidden in the Student Information System (SIS). Every time educators bring a new app into the classroom, they have to manually import membership data into the app. Many ISVs solve this problem by connecting to SIS to import composition data. With hundreds of student information systems available on the market that use their own formats, this can be a daunting task. nine0003

Microsoft School Data Sync, in combination with the Course Listing API, helps app developers and schools solve this problem. Here are some scenarios that support the Course List API:

• get all classes in a school;
• get all users in the class;
• receiving all classes in which I teach.

Use Microsoft Teams to create assignments for classes on the corresponding tab

You can use the assignment-related education APIs to integrate with assignments in Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams in Microsoft 365 Education builds on the same Education APIs and provides a use case for the API. Your application can use these APIs to interact with jobs throughout the life of the job.

The job APIs provide the following key resources.

• educationAssignment: The main object of the Assignment API. Represents a task or unit of work assigned to a student or team member in a class as part of their study. nine0008
• educationSubmission: Represents the resources submitted by an individual (or group) as part of an assignment, and the associated grades and feedback for that assignment.
• educationResource: Represents the learning object that is being assigned or sent. Object educationResource is associated with educationAssignment and/or educationSubmission .

The Jobs API allows an application to interact with the Jobs service outside of Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams handles distribution, due dates, and grades, and your system provides a great learning experience for students. nine0003

The following are examples of scripts that the Jobs API provides:

• adding a job associated with your application;
• Assigning individual students results, such as grades, for assignments associated with your application;
• Create a dashboard with due dates for tasks.

Give School Administrators the Ability to Manage Identity and List Sync with School Data Sync Management (Trial)

Synchronizing school information helps automate the process of importing and synchronizing identity and student list information from student information systems with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and Microsoft 365. When you synchronize this information, you can use the API to import class list information into applications.

If you’re configuring a student information system integration with School Data Sync, you can use the SDS Management API in Microsoft Graph to set up sync from a CSV file or a supported API connector for SIS. nine0003

The School Data Sync management APIs support full sync management scenarios, for example:

• Create a profile that automatically starts sync.
• Managing the synchronization lifecycle with the pause, resume, and reset operations.

API reference

Looking for API reference for this service?

• Education API in Microsoft Graph 1.0
• Education API in Microsoft Graph 9 Beta0008

What to do next

Before using the Education API, please review the following articles:

• Using the Course List API
• Using the Job API
• Using the SDS Management API

Try the Education API in the Graph Sandbox.

Review the following education-related examples:

• . NET 9 single sign-on and listing example0008
• Profile management API example

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List of schools educationUser – Microsoft Graph v1.0

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Namespace: microsoft.graph

Get the list of schools for this user.

nine0018 Note. When a delegated token is used, members can only see information about their school. In this case, use resource ...v1.0/education/me/schools .

Permissions

Calling this API requires one of the following permissions. For more information, including how to choose permissions, see Permissions.

HTTP request

 GET /education/me/schools
GET /education/users/{educationUserId}/schools
 

Optional query parameters

This method supports OData query options to customize the response.

Header	Meaning
Authorization	Bearer {token}. Mandatory.

Request body

Do not specify a request body for this method.

Response

If successful, this method returns a response code of 200 OK and a collection of educationSchool objects in the response body. nine0003

Example

Request

Below is an example request.

• HTTP
• C#
• JavaScript
• Objective-C
• Java
• go
• PowerShell

 GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/education/me/schools
 

Response

Below is an example response.

The response object shown here may be shortened for readability. nine0003

 HTTP/1.1 200 OK

Content-type: application/json

{

  "value": [

    {

      "id": "10001",

      "displayName": "Contoso High School",

      "description": "Public 9-12 high school",

      "status": "active",

      "externalSource": "sis",

      "principalEmail": "amyr@contoso.