A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Taking Responsibility for Ending Social Promotion: A Guide for Educators and State and Local Leaders — May 1999

Holding Schools Accountable for Performance and Helping Them Improve

Ending social promotion requires attention to the systemic issues that reduce the capacity of our schools to educate our children, along with the political will to make changes and an understanding of the long-term benefits of those changes.

To achieve the goal of ending social promotion, states and districts will have to allocate the resources to help all students meet high standards. School administrators and teachers will then face the challenge of dealing with students who cannot make the grade. Ending social promotion involves taking risks and holding firm to the commitment to help all students reach their full potential. It requires holding stakeholders accountable for helping students reach high standards.

This section discusses the lessons to be learned from the experiences of districts that have made the effort to hold schools accountable for students' performance.

Require public reporting of school performance

Public reporting of school performance is playing an important role in holding schools more accountable and is an important tool for communicating to parents and the public about the quality of schools. To date, 36 states issue school-level report cards. An analysis of early report cards indicates that no two states report the exact same information, and the reports tended to be heavy on "input measures" that described the characteristics of schools rather than focusing on quality or performance.⁽⁴⁵⁾

School Report Cards: What Do Parents Really Want to Know?

A recent special study on school report cards by Education Week reveals what parents, taxpayers, and educators feel they need to know about schools in order to make schools more accountable for results. Parents rated the following as the top ten indicators that could be reported to hold schools accountable:

school safety
teacher qualifications
class sizes
graduation rates
dropout rates
statewide test scores
parent survey data
SAT scores
percent of students promoted to the next grade
attendance rates

—Quality Counts, 1999

To be useful, report cards need to display information about a variety of indicators, from student demographics and performance on assessments to use of resources and parental involvement. In some states, such as New York, report cards permit comparisons of student achievement results across similar schools in the state based on the age of students, the resource capacity of the district or school, and the economic needs of the students. Recent amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Act also require that, under certain conditions, the performance of students with disabilities be included in these reports.

In many states these report cards are distributed each year to parents and are publicized in local media when released. State, district, and school leaders generally agree that publishing school level indicators of achievement has been an important means of holding schools accountable for student performance.

Intervene in low-performing schools

Accountability for performance means that there must be consequences for schools that fail to help students achieve. Earlier this year the President released Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: A Guide for State and Local Leaders. The guide makes the point that holding schools accountable is not enough. Chronically low performing schools rarely have the capacity, on their own, to make the kinds of changes necessary to improve students' achievement. In these cases, states and districts must help create the capacity, vision, and commitment needed to improve. The guide examined numerous strategies pursued by districts across the country to intervene in chronically low-performing schools, including efforts in:

New York City, where the city's lowest-performing schools, as identified by the New York State Education Department as Schools Under Registration Review (SURR), are assigned to the "Chancellor's District." The Chancellor's District Intervention Plan includes an in-depth assessment of existing school conditions using the Performance Assessment in Schools System (PASS) review, a comprehensive plan to address identified needs, and an intensive support system that ensures quality implementation. This focused intervention has resulted in the removal from the SURR list of all but four of the twelve schools in the Chancellor's Districts within the span of only two years.
In Chicago, where very low performing schools are placed on probation. As part of the process, schools must develop a corrective action plan. Schools must select an external partner to assist them in the process. The district provides a school operations manager to deal with fiscal and administrative matters so that the principal can focus on improving instruction. The district also assigns a probation monitor (a former or current successful principal) to monitor a school's progress toward improving student achievement.

Because social promotion and retention disproportionately affect disadvantaged students in needy schools, it is essential that efforts to hold these schools and students accountable for meeting standards are accompanied by effective intervention strategies. To be effective, accountability measures must engage teachers and the unions that represent them, along with parents and the wider community in bringing about improvement.

Reward school improvement

Holding schools accountable for performance means not only intervening in and assisting schools where students are not meeting standards but also providing incentives for schools to continually improve performance and rewarding schools that meet expectations.

In Maryland, schools that attain significant improvement over a one-year period receive a certificate of recognition. Schools that improve over two to three years receive monetary awards (ranging from $19,000 to $79,000 per school). School improvement teams decide how funds are spent for the benefit of the entire school.
In North Carolina, schools achieving exemplary growth/gain (approximately 10 percent above statewide average) or expected growth/gain are eligible for incentive awards, which can be distributed as direct bonuses to teachers or can be used by the school. For exemplary gains, schools receive up to $1,500 for each certified staff member and $500 for each teacher assistant. For expected gains, schools receive up to $750 per certified staff member and $375 for each teacher assistant. To be eligible for incentives, schools must not have excessive exemptions and must test at least 98 percent of eligible K-8 students and 95 percent of high school students.

Ending social promotion requires real accountability for results--and this accountability must begin at the school level. These strategies require strong leadership, a sense of collective responsibility from within and outside the school, and open and honest communication among stakeholders.

Notes:

45. Education Week, 1999.
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[Helping Students Who Still Do Not Meet Standards]

[Conclusion]