Redesigning systems of school accountability: A multiple measures approach to accountability and support

Abstract

Abstract:The challenges facing our children in the 21st century are rapidly changing. As a result, schools bear a greater responsibility to prepare students for college, career, and life and must be held accountable for more than just testing and reporting on a narrow set of outcomes aimed at minimum levels of competency. Thus, scholars, educators, and reform advocates are calling for a more meaningful next phase of school accountability, one that promotes continuous support and improvement rather than mere compliance and efforts to avoid punishment (Center for American Progress & CCSSO, 2014;Darling-Hammond, Wilhoit, & Pittenger, 2014). This paper reviews state and district level accountability systems that incorporate a multiple measures approach to accountability and highlights the following features that represent redesigned systems of accountability: 1) broader set of outcome measures, 2) mix of state and local indicators, 3) measures of opportunities to learn, 4) data dashboards, and 5) School Quality Reviews. The paper concludes with guidance for policymakers and practitioners on ways to support the development and implementation of a multiple measures system of accountability so that school accountability Reestructuración de los sistemas de responsabilidad escolar: Un enfoque de medidas múltiples para la rendición de cuentas y el apoyo Resumen: Debido a los desafíos que enfrentan nuestros niños en el siglo 21, las escuelas tienen una gran responsabilidad de preparar a los estudiantes para la universidad, la carrera profesional y la vida y deben rendir cuentas por algo más que las pruebas académicas y los reportes sobre una lista de resultados limitados a niveles mínimos de competencia. Por lo tanto, académicos, educadores y defensores de la reforma piden que la próxima fase de responsabilidad escolar sea más significativa, una que promueva el apoyo y el mejoramiento continuo en lugar de la conformidad y los esfuerzos para evitar el castigo (Center for American Progress & CCSSO, 2014; Darling-Hammond, Wilhoit y Pittenger, 2014). Este documento revisa los sistemas de responsabilidad a nivel estatal y del distrito que incorporan un enfoque de medidas múltiples para la rendición de cuentas y destaca las siguientes características que representan sistemas rediseñados de responsabilidad: 1) una lista más amplia de medidas de resultado, 2) combinación de indicadores estatales y locales, 3) medidas de oportunidades para aprender, 4) tableros de datos, y 5) Revisiones de Calidad Escolar. El documento concluye con una guía para los formuladores de políticas y profesionales sobre formas de apoyar el desarrollo y la implementación de un sistema de responsabilidad múltiple de medidas múltiples para que la responsabilidad escolar sea sinónimo con responsabilidad para un aprendizaje más profundo y apoyo para el proceso de mejora continua. Palabras clave: responsabilidad escolar; medidas múltiples; la mejora continua Reestruturação dos sistemas de responsabilização escolar: Uma abordagem multifacetada para a responsabil...

Linking teacher education to redesigned systems of accountability: A call for multiple measures in pre-service teacher effectiveness

“…Bae (2018) calls for professional development on data literacy to help teachers understand data and make well-informed professional decisions about their practice. We agree and extend Bae's (2018) argument to teacher preparation, arguing that teacher education programs must be at the forefront of this work.…”

“…Our argument for multiple measures within teacher education is motivated by research from a pilot program within three major public universities exploring the use of multiple measures, including K-12 student feedback, during student teaching experiences (Farley, Clayton, & Kaka, 2018). In this pilot, mentor teams and pre-service teachers were able to leverage cutting-edge technology, such as video observations shared over the web, in conjunction with the mix of state and local indicators prescribed by Bae (2018). This helped triangulate key areas for professional growth that might otherwise have been overlooked, such as cultural proficiency or classroom climate.…”

“…In this commentary, we suggest teacher preparation embrace the same multiple measures philosophy articulated by Bae (2018) by providing pre-service teachers rich opportunities to engage with data from a variety of sources, beyond state assessments and principal evaluations. For inservice teachers to meet the demands of evolving accountability and evaluation systems, teacher education must prepare candidates to reflect meaningfully on their craft, solve problems and think critically, and collaborate with coaches, teacher teams, and other stakeholders.…”

“Seeing the whole elephant”: Changing mindsets and empowering stakeholders to meaningfully manage accountability and improvement

“…As discussed by Bae (2018), six California districts (Oakland, Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Ana) developed an innovative accountability system under a waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) resting on three key tenets: 1) the importance of local control and local solutions to problems, 2) a focus on shared responsibility and support over compliance, and 3) the belief that districts can best build capacity through peer-to-peer collaboration focused on data. At present, the CORE districts (now including Sacramento City and Garden Grove) continue to work together to improve outcomes for the million students they serve, the majority of whom are minority students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.…”

Response to “Redesigning Systems of School Accountability”: Addressing underlying inequities

“…As Bae (2018) suggests, one way to fill gaps between a holistic view of student learning and accountability policy implementation is to use multiple measures that reflect diverse perspectives of learning. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a discussion of issues, which need to be considered in order to achieve the desired outcomes of greater equity and transparency through these broader accountability efforts.…”