The Center for American Progress and the Council of Chief State School Officers are out with a new report looking at next-generation accountability concepts that states have implemented in lieu of zero congressional action on No Child Left Behind.
Generally, the accountability reforms fall into 5 categories across the states:
- Measuring progress toward college and career readiness
Many states are rethinking mechanisms for measuring progress based on assessments and are including additional measures of college and career readiness such as the percentage of high school graduates who require remediation coursework in college.
- Diagnosing and responding to challenges via school-based quality improvement
Many states and districts are using a broad array of quality indicators, such as parent volunteer hours and attendance data, to measure school success and develop school-improvement plans, as well as making use of third-party experts to assist them in this work.
- State systems of support and intervention
States and districts are rethinking the way they support struggling schools. Some of the most prevalent strategies include school support teams, pairing high-growth schools with low-performing schools, networks of low-performing schools, engaging external providers, and recovery school districts.
- Resource accountability
Some states and districts are focusing more intently on the connections between resource allocation and outcomes, and several have tried to aggressively tackle inequitable school funding with new state funding formulas. Others are working to increase transparency and accountability for how funds are being spent to ensure that high-need students are receiving adequate support.
- Professional accountability
Most states have adopted new systems for evaluating and supporting teachers and leaders. However, some states are leveraging these new evaluation systems to create more robust on-site embedded professional development systems and developing school leaders, such as principals, to effectively carry out teacher-evaluation systems and instructional leadership. In addition, a number of states are also rethinking other aspects of the teaching profession, including teacher licensure, teacher-preparation program approval and accreditation, and selection, retention, and tenure.
Find that full report here: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/report/2014/10/16/99107/next-generation-accountability-systems/ .
A related report released by the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and the Center for Innovation in Education at the University of Kentucky calls for new accountability systems with stronger, more multi-dimensional ways of evaluating schools, among other measures.
This report, penned by Education Policy veteran Linda Darling-Hammond, argues that this new system should rest on three pillars — “a focus on meaningful learning, adequate resources, and professional capacity — and should be driven by processes for continuous evaluation and improvement.”
“For more than a decade, the definition of ‘accountability’ in education has manifested largely in the form of consequences to schools that do not meet annual targets for growth on yearly state tests. This definition has resulted in a narrowing of the curriculum and a widening of the opportunity gap,” said Linda Darling-Hammond. “A powerful accountability system must offer a rich and well-taught curriculum to all students, raising expectations not only for individual schools but for the functioning of the system as a whole.”
You can find that report here: https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/publications/pubs/1257 .
