Gaining Ground: Value-Added Analysis for Massachusetts

The premise of standards-based reform in Massachusetts is that a statewide commitment to standards, teaching, assessment, and accountability will lead to greater learning opportunities, higher achievement, a narrowing of the achievement gap, and a more promising future for all of the Commonwealth's students. And indeed, ten years after the passage of the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act, there is strong evidence-from rising scores on state and national tests to testimony from students and teachers themselves - that Massachusetts schools and students are rising to the challenge provided by rigorous academic standards.Yet we have hardly begun to tap the wealth of information that the state has gathered on student learning. Federal "No Child Left Behind" legislation requires states to measure all students' progress toward "Proficiency". While Massachusetts has a sophisticated, even complex, state accountability system, the current system does not allow the Commonwealth to follow individual students' academic trajectory toward proficiency over time. Our current accountability system does not enable us to measure individual students' academic achievement over time.The purpose of this paper is to propose that Massachusetts' accountability plan for schools and districts include a value-added component-a goal that can be realized given key opportunities which now exist. To meet federal NCLB mandates, Massachusetts is required to test all students annually in grades 3 through 8 by 2006-a process in which the Commonwealth has now invested significant time and fiscal resources. With the state's newly developed infrastructure and commitment to annual testing, value-added assessment has become a practical, viable reality in Massachusetts.To explore how better use of student achievement data could enhance our current system of accountability and school improvement, the Rennie Center convened a diverse group - representing teachers' unions, parents, school committees, superintendents, principals, and other education experts - with whom we consulted over several months in preparation of this report. The group focused its attention on the measurement, over time, of student learning gains. We believe that such a system will enhance: The state's capacity to make fair judgments about school effectiveness;Teachers' capacity to provide focused learning support for students;Parents' understanding of their children's academic growth in school; andAdministrators' and local policymakers' decisions about how to improve educational programs.This paper presents the Rennie Center's conclusions about how and why Massachusetts should supplement its current accountability system with value-added analysis. We do not see value-added analysis as a substitute but rather as a complement that adds breadth and depth

Water Accountability Model under Emergency Cases and for Areas Gained New Access to Water Services

We present a reference accountability model for water utilities that consists of five major components, namely organization, systems, data, communication, and quality management. The model has been discussed with water officials, experts, and stakeholders in order to build and customize the model for each utility through a pre-prepared questionnaire and focused groups. Results have shown that water utilities have different accountability systems with several drawbacks. There was a need for actions taken to secure regular customers’ data updates as well as activate e-services in order to access vital information during emergencies. It was therefore our strong recommendation to the water utilities to move forward with some measures to support and sustain their bi-directional communication with customers. Further recommendations encouraging water utilities to enhance the accountability mechanism such as the deployment of e- services complaints management and tracking, expanding the Enterprise Resources Planning system, improving staff communication skills, training staff on the procedures used in analyzing customers’ feedback, and moving to performance- based management system

Democracy, Accountability, and Education

Educational standards, assessments, and accountability systems are of immense political moment around the world. But there is no developed theory exploring the role that these systems should play within a democratic polity in particular. On the one hand, well-designed standards are public goods, supported by assessment and accountability mechanisms. They have the potential to serve democratic goods in particular, such as transparency, equality, and public discourse. On the other hand, their very potential to advance systemic democratic goods signals a level of reach and power that threatens the achievement of these same democratic values along other dimensions. This is especially evident in the contemporary United States. Adults’ democratically legitimate control over education within a democracy may well undercut children’s legitimate claims to receiving an education that equips them for democracy. Because the latter should trump the former, democratic goods are best achieved through embedding very limited educational standards, assessments, and accountability measures within an educational system that selects, trains, and provides ongoing support to civically engaged and thoughtful educators. Under such circumstances, they may promote a virtuous circle that builds capacity, motivation, and public support for strong and effective civic education practices, while still offering the adult public a strong democratic voice in public schools

Internal Control Systems and Financial Accountability of Local Governments in Uganda. A Case study of Iganga District, Uganda.

Background This study investigated the relationship between the internal control systems and financial accountability of local governments in Ugandan a case study of the district by examining the relationship between control environment and financial accountability; control activities and financial accountability and assessing the relationship between Information and communication and financial accountability in district local government.  Methodology The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data from the field and used the SPSS data analysis package version 2022, Pearson correlation to determine the relationship between the variables under investigation.  Results: The findings revealed a strong relationship between control activities and financial accountability with dimensions such as expenditures and disbursements requests backed by appropriate supporting documents, approval of expenditures, and cash releases by authorized persons, Bank reconciliations reviewed by an officer independent of those processing cash, and payments, clear separation of roles and responsibilities, Budget reviews, presence of a system that identifies and safeguards Institutional Assets more findings found a significant relationship between information and communication with generating relevant quality information to support the functioning of internal control if employs freely discuss internal control matters with those charged with governance and if organization reviews the received information from external parties and responds appropriately as the major constructs for promotion of financial accountability. Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between the internal control environment and financial accountability as reflected by the Pearson correlation; significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed.) Recommendation: Local governments must invest more effort in the accounting and financial management system, and management must continuously and effectively be committed to the accounting system which will enrich financial accountability

Macroeconomic Management in Emerging Economies and the International Financial Architecture

In the last few years, and most recently with the crisis in Argentina, views about emerging markets and the international financial institutions have changed significantly. This paper reviews macroeconomic management in emerging economies and the role of the international financial institutions in helping to secure their stability. It discusses the role of macroeconomic policies, in particular exchange rate policies, arguing that a very strong case can be made for exchange rate flexibility. However, as recent evidence confirms, this choice requires an institutional framework that credibly commits the economy to low inflation, preventing price instability even in the presence of strong fluctuations in the exchange rate. Also discussed is the role of the international financial institutions in a world of recurrent currency crises and contagion. Despite the need for increased transparency, accountability, and greater independence for the International Monetary Fund, to avoid its being seen as an institution that primarily serves the political goals of its main shareholders, and despite the need for improved procedures to handle crises, the best recipe for stability is at the domestic level. Good macroeconomic policies are those that bring about low inflation, fiscal prudence, and a strong financial system: these are necessary and almost sufficient conditions to avoid the type of crisis experienced repeatedly in the last decade. However, strong institutions must support this set of policies. The ultimate goal of macroeconomic policy is to serve as the basis for prosperity and for improving the well-being of the entire population, and here there is no substitute for macroeconomic stability.

Competency Education Series: Policy Brief One, An Emerging Federal Role for Competency Education

After two decades of standards-based reform, a new education paradigm has begun to take hold -- the rise of competency education. This new vision builds on the strong foundation of new college and career ready standards, challenging stakeholders to design an education system that emphasizes mastery of content standards and the transferable skills critical to success in college and today's workforce.A competency education system puts students at the center, replacing rigid time-based structures with flexible learning environments that ensure students receive the support and extra time they need to succeed. This highly-personalized approach provides clear, individualized pathways to student proficiency that help mobilize stakeholders around the collective goal of college and career readiness for all students. A growing number of states and districts have begun to embrace this vision for education, leading to an explosion of new policies, pilot initiatives, and tools designed to help schools implement competencybased approaches.The success of the competency movement depends heavily on the federal government's willingness to partner with states and districts as they design education systems that put students at the center. A true partnership will grant states the flexibility to innovate and develop equally ambitious accountability and assessment policies that better align with student centered education to ensure all students graduate with the knowledge and skills to succeed. This paper is the first in a series to help policymakers define the appropriate role for the federal government supporting competency education in the nation's K-12 schools

Adroit Accountability or Keeping a Step Ahead

From its inception, the United States Cooperative Extension System has had a history of being accountable for its programs and funding. With accountability becoming of even greater importance, plans and proactive efforts must be undertaken to assure that useful program accomplishment information is made available to identified audiences in an aggressive manner. Yet, remaining continuously vigilant to the changing circumstances or political landscapes within a county or state is a critical must to assure that when questions of the value of Extension programs arise, its programs and budgets can withstand the scrutiny. Three case studies are described in which proactive measures have been undertaken to have program information readily available and provide needed accountability information in a timely manner to policy makers and citizens. Changing political directions in the county governments and their implications are explained. Significant accountability measures prior to certain policy shifts, during the stressful period that resulted, and following the shifts, resulted in strong Extension programs being able to cope with adversity or even to gain greater support. In circumstances of political tranquility or in periods of great change, a large measure of organizational risk can be avoided by keeping Extension\u27s accountability a step ahead of inevitable changing circumstances

Electronic Health Records: Interoperability Challenges Patients\u27 Right to Privacy

President George W. Bush\u27s administration has outlined initial necessary steps to transform the healthcare delivery system through adoption of interoperable electronic health records ( EHRs ) by the year 2014. This Article examines the nation\u27s shift toward the use of EHR technology, which largely facilitates patient care by providing clinicians with the ability to review a more complete medical record at the time of treatment. Current legislation calls for financial support and technical standards. However, lawmakers neglect to fully address the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ( HIPAA ) and the need to expand its application and enforcement. In addition, healthcare provider Anti-Kickback and physician self-referral statutes may continue to deter electronic connectivity progress in healthcare, despite recently finalized safe harbor regulations. The Article concludes that while lawmakers have demonstrated strong support for the health information technology ( HIT ) initiatives, significant challenges remain to EHR adoption, including the lack of interoperability standards, financial obstacles, and privacy and security concerns

State Strategies for Building Capacity: Addressing the Needs of Standards-Based Reform

Over the past decade or more, state policymakers have concentrated on putting the architecture of standards-based reform in place: setting challenging academic content standards and performance standards for all students; and instituting compatible tests, incentives, and accountability systems to reinforce these ambitious outcomes. Many states and districts have also restructured their governance systems to delegate more authority to local decision-makers. But clearly defined learning goals and accountability systems do not by themselves yield continued improvement in student learning. Some states with high standards and related assessment and accountability programs in place are finding that their early gains in student achievement have plateaued in certain academic areas. Furthermore, achievement gaps between students from majority groups and those from minority groups continue to exist, and students with disabilities still have poorer educational outcomes than other students. Acknowledging that clear standards and strong incentives alone are not sufficient to dramatically change teaching and learning, policymakers and policy analysts have started to talk about and implement “capacity-building” strategies. “Capacity” in this policy context refers to the wherewithal needed to translate high standards and incentives into effective inby Diane Massell struction and strong student performance. This issue of CPRE Policy Briefs examines capacity-building strategies used in eight states, and analyzes their promise and continuing challenges. One way of defining capacity is to ask what elements are needed to support effective instruction. People often think of capacity in terms of teachers’ knowledge and skills. But effective classrooms also require quality instructional materials and students motivated and ready to learn. And, classrooms exist within larger contexts—the school, the school district, and the state education system—that provide educational direction and leadership, and influence social norms as well as access to resources and knowledge. The capacity of classrooms and of organizations that support classrooms fall into seven areas we think are essential to generating improvement in teaching and learning

National Standards for Family-School Partnerships

PTA's National Standards for Family-School Partnerships set the bar for how schools and parent organizations should work together to support student success. We know that families are essential partners to providing a high-quality education for every student. Decades of research shows that family engagement matters for student success, students whose families are engaged are more likely to attend school, avoid discipline problems, achieve at higher levels and graduate. Family engagement also helps schools, research suggests it is equally as important as school leadership or a rigorous curriculum to predict school improvement.The Standards are one of few recognizable and concrete guideposts for family engagement across the education system, complementing important work such as the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School-Community Partnerships. The National Standards for Family-School Partnerships have been used by PTAs, schools, districts, state education agencies, and the U.S. Department of Education for accountability and support for strong family engagement, including as the foundation for PTA's own Schools of Excellence program which supports over 300 local PTAs and their schools annually