This month’s ED Stakeholders Forum focused on accountability systems. Carmel Martin started the event by saying that AYP has been too blunt of a tool and that the current assessments are too narrow and do not measure everything students need to know. Greater flexibility will be key to accurately measuring student progress.
Panelists at this forum, including Harold Doran of the American Institutes for Research, focused on the value of growth models for getting a better picture of how individual students are doing through the years. He went on to say that states need more support to develop growth models, such as has been done in Oregon, Hawaii and Delaware. Another strategy he proposed was for schools to allow students to have multiple attempts at taking assessments throughout the year so that teachers can see the results and tailor their curriculum to target need areas.
Delia Pompa of the National Council of La Raza stressed that we have learned a lot since the last reauthorization of ESEA, and that the technology has improved since 2002, therefore we have more options for accountability measurement now than we did in the past.
Finally, Linda Darling-Hammond from Stanford University pointed out that when we talk about accountability, we need to focus on more than just test scores. Parents and students want schools to be accountable for having effective teachers, curriculum, supports, as well as results.
Tags: accountability, NCLB/ESEA