Because accountability policies set the goals to which educators, students, and schools aspire, and the standards by which they are deemed to have succeeded or failed, they drive all other aspects of the system. Comprehensive accountability systems are thus essential to ensuring that all children receive a high-quality education.
Yet over-emphasis on closing gaps in test scores to the neglect of broader goals has led to the development of accountability systems that can overlook the impacts of poverty on students’ scores and often penalize the very schools and teachers that are struggling the most and that need the most support.
These blogs by BBA leaders and allies illustrate how the wrong version of accountability does harm, and how it can be done right: Marc Tucker points out in EdWeek that the evidence is on the …
BBA Case Studies illustrate how districts taking a comprehensive approach to education employ a broader set of measures of student well-being to assess teacher and school quality and target the right supports to improve …
And across the country, states and districts are exploring Broader, Bolder ways to recruit, induct, support, and evaluate teachers: In California, CORE districts are collaborating to craft systems of accountability as a teacher support and school …
The Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education has produced a series of publications that outline how states and districts can craft new, supports-based accountability systems that give students a more central role …
England is among many Western nations that employ inspectorate systems to conduct whole-school assessments. These systems draw on test scores and other quantitative data, reviews of student work, and intensive visits by master educators …
Comprehensive accountability systems are essential to ensuring that all children receive a high-quality education. Because accountability policies establish the goals to which educators, students, and schools aspire, and the standards by which they are deemed to have succeeded or failed, they drive all other aspects of the system. Over-emphasis on closing gaps in test scores to the neglect of other issues has led to the development of accountability systems that can overlook the impacts of poverty on students’ scores and often result in penalizing the very schools and teachers that are struggling the most and that need the most support.
A Broader, Bolder Approach to accountability is grounded in targeted supports that enable all students to attain high standards. It employs broad measures of student well-being to direct supports as needed to improve teaching and learning. BBA recognizes that teachers and schools operate within a complex system of factors and actors that influence student well-being, and that effective accountability helps strengthen each factor and ensure that each maximizes its positive impact. Assessments should therefore be structured to fulfill a broader and more productive purpose than is currently true of most. They should capture a wide range of measures of student well-being to enable tracking of student progress toward readiness for college, career, and civic engagement.
To help students prepare for these challenges and opportunities, schools must nurture not only reading, math, science, and history skills, but the arts, executive function, and a range of measures of physical, mental, and emotional well-being and citizenship. Capturing these outcomes accurately and situating them within a broader context for accountability purposes requires: 1) exploring and employing new, high-quality tools that employ culturally and linguistically sensitive measures, such as project- and proficiency-based assessments; 2) leveraging master teachers and leaders to explore the types of inspection systems employed in other countries to assess and strengthen the entire school ecosystem; and 3) at the policy level, employing Opportunity Dashboards like those being explored by pioneering scholars and policymakers.
Establishing an even educational playing field so that all children enter kindergarten prepared to learn and thrive requires supports for children, their parents, and their caregivers from birth. And ensuring equal opportunities to learn requires support for children’s physical and mental health. A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education advances enriching experiences with nurturing, knowledgeable adults throughout the day and all year, in order to promote children’s strong cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral development.
Schools and educators serving students with higher needs need the resources to do so effectively. A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education advances policies that establish strong standards and curriculum in all schools and ensure sufficient funding for high-needs schools to reach them. BBA promotes supports-based accountability systems focused on improving instruction and strategies to desegregate schools and deconcentrate poverty within them, so that educators and students have a strong context in which to teach and learn.
Effective, sustainable school improvement efforts merge research-based evidence of effective ways to mitigate the impacts of poverty with community input regarding the district’s unique assets and needs. A Broader, Bolder Approach highlights the need for key community voices – including educators, parents, students, and faith and business leaders – to be at the center of developing and implementing education reforms.