Learning About Assessment: An Evaluation of a Ten-State Effort to Build Assessment Capacity in High Schools

In 2006, the State of Delaware and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) partnered with the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) to conduct an evaluation of a ten-state initiative that sought to enhance assessment practices at the high school level. This effort aimed to help states, districts, and schools build familiarity with instruction that uses assessment as part of the learning process, a practice known as assessment for learning. This report focuses primarily on the third goal of this project, the creation and function of teacher learning teams focused on assessment for learning

Measuring School Capacity, Maximizing School Improvement

Given the nearly ubiquitous use of the term capacity in education policy discourse, this policy brief offers a common framework for analyzing capacity that educators, policymakers, and researchers alike can apply and understand with consistency. Drawing data from a larger three-year CPRE study of school responses to accountability in Pennsylvania, the authors\u27 goal is not to provide an easy, new, one-sentence definition, but rather to create a shared language that can be applied to research and improvement efforts in schools. To accomplish this, the authors break capacity down into component parts, explaining how each one builds off the next and contributes to theoverall concept

Learning From NCLB: School Responses to Accountability Pressure and Student Subgroup Performance

Much has been written in the last decade about the spotlight that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) shines on schoolperformance. Proponents and opponents alike are quick to discuss the law’s rigid definitions of school performance— exemplified by the classification of schools as making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) or not making AYP based largely on annual tests in reading and mathematics, disaggregating school performance by student subgroups, and requiring that all schools reach 100% proficiency. Yet for all its rigidity, the law has offered schools little guidance on how to make use of the performance data that the new systems provide or how to design improvement efforts. As policymakers discuss ways to change NCLB or design new federal education policies targeted at improving academic achievement, we present new research findings that can help to inform those discussions. In this CPRE Policy Brief, we examine the extent to which the assumptions in the law manifest themselves in the actions that school leaders take. This brief asks and answers the question: How do school leaders—administrators and teachers— respond to the results of state assessment systems and the pressure of performance-based accountability? And do those responses seem to matter to achievement outcomes

A tale of two systems: School districts and state accountability policies

This dissertation documents the ways in which school districts in two states respond to their respective state accountability systems with regard to their efforts to help high schools to improve instruction. Using states with accountability systems that contrast on a number of variables, this paper analyzes the ways in which state accountability systems influence district role in high school improvement and, where influence exists, how it is exerted. Included is a discussion of whether there is any evidence that such policies are leading school districts towards practices that are likely to result in instructional improvement at the high school level. Performance-based educational accountability systems are a feature of state education policy across the nation. The unit that most states have created to disseminate and implement state accountability policies is the local educational agency, commonly known as the district office. The focus on standards and outputs that such accountability systems entail, commonly referred to as “new accountability,” presents an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of how state policy influences school districts. Most state accountability policies have only a passing reference to the role of the district and instead create stakes to impact schools, teachers and students. Within this policy context, districts have significant latitude in their responses. Due to the unique position of the district and the limited research about the ways in which districts respond to accountability pressure or the strategies that they might use for improvement, I have focused my research on the district role. My research draws on extensive document analysis at the state level and interviews with local district and high school staff. Through case study analyses, this dissertation documents levels and areas of district response. The research provides evidence of variation both within and between states, while patterns were inconsistent between states. This research concludes that the district response to state accountability policy is a combination of particular features of the policy (comprehensibility, comprehensiveness, consistency, credibility, chronology) as well as contextual factors unique to the districts (size, leadership, previous performance). These factors influence both the level and focus of activities occurring in districts. This dissertation discusses the policy implications of these findings and provides recommendations for making the most effective use of district offices in the effort to improve high school instruction

A tale of two systems: School districts and state accountability policies

This dissertation documents the ways in which school districts in two states respond to their respective state accountability systems with regard to their efforts to help high schools to improve instruction. Using states with accountability systems that contrast on a number of variables, this paper analyzes the ways in which state accountability systems influence district role in high school improvement and, where influence exists, how it is exerted. Included is a discussion of whether there is any evidence that such policies are leading school districts towards practices that are likely to result in instructional improvement at the high school level. Performance-based educational accountability systems are a feature of state education policy across the nation. The unit that most states have created to disseminate and implement state accountability policies is the local educational agency, commonly known as the district office. The focus on standards and outputs that such accountability systems entail, commonly referred to as “new accountability,” presents an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of how state policy influences school districts. Most state accountability policies have only a passing reference to the role of the district and instead create stakes to impact schools, teachers and students. Within this policy context, districts have significant latitude in their responses. Due to the unique position of the district and the limited research about the ways in which districts respond to accountability pressure or the strategies that they might use for improvement, I have focused my research on the district role. My research draws on extensive document analysis at the state level and interviews with local district and high school staff. Through case study analyses, this dissertation documents levels and areas of district response. The research provides evidence of variation both within and between states, while patterns were inconsistent between states. This research concludes that the district response to state accountability policy is a combination of particular features of the policy (comprehensibility, comprehensiveness, consistency, credibility, chronology) as well as contextual factors unique to the districts (size, leadership, previous performance). These factors influence both the level and focus of activities occurring in districts. This dissertation discusses the policy implications of these findings and provides recommendations for making the most effective use of district offices in the effort to improve high school instruction