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Accountability
for Results with Students
One of the central elements of the charter idea is that
schools will be given greater flexibility in how they operate in exchange
for greater responsibility for results. Because of the federal No Child
Left Behind Legislation, all public schools have responsibility to ensure
students achieve at certain levels, or there will be negative consequences.
However charter schools have, along with more ability
to make decisions about how to operate, even greater responsibility
to show improved student achievement. This part of the charter handbook
is divided into three sections:
Current Minnesota law:
Minnesota currently requires that all public school students, including
public charter school students, take several statewide tests. As this
handbook is being completed, Minnesota requires all public school students
to take the following tests:
3rd grade: reading and math
5th grade: reading and math
8th grade: reading and math (which students must pass prior to graduation)
9th grade: writing (which students must pass prior to graduation)
11th grade: science and social studies
However, Minnesota's standardized testing requirements are changing.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, all students in grades
2-8 will be tested annually in reading and math using state developed
tests. Moreover, students in high school will be assessed in several
areas. Under the NCLB, annual report cards are issued for each school
in the state and under-performing schools are placed on an Adequate
Yearly Progress list. Consequences and additional support come with
being placed on this list. The federal law and state implementation
of the law are complicated and will impact your school. For more information
on state level accountability measures associated with No Child Left
Behind, please see http://education.state.mn.us/html/intro_fed_prog_nclb.htm.
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Center for School Change Recommendations to Charter
School Developers:
Several years ago the U.S. Department of Education asked the Center
for School Change to develop key ideas about how to hold charter (and
other public schools) accountable for results. In a report, "What
Should We Do?", the CSC explains six vital, and three valuable,
features of accountability. We strongly urge everyone hoping to start
a charter school to review this report. It contains many examples of
how other charter schools have dealt with evaluation issues.
Vital Features:
I. Clear, Explicit, Measurable Goals.
We strongly recommend charter schools develop 4-5 clear, measurable,
school-wide goals. The goal ought to include:
- a specific percentage of people involved
- the change to be measured
- the method of assessment
- and the time over which the goal is going to be measured
Note: Some goals may be year-to-year, some might be goals the school
aims to achieve over the period of its contract. For example:
- At least 80% of the students who attend the school for at least
8 months will make at least a year's worth of progress in reading
and math, as measured by the (Stanford, ETS or other) test.
- Over the first three years, there will be at least a five percent
gain in the percentage of students who are at or above grade level
on the (Stanford, ETS or other) test.
- Over the first three years, at least 75% of students will move
at least one level on a pre-post test of writing assessment developed
by the school and its outside evaluator.
- All students, prior to graduation, will present a 5-minute speech
describing a project they have completed. This speech will be judged
at least "good," on a scale ranging from poor to excellent, by a
group of evaluators including faculty and community experts.
II. Non-Academic Goals
Charter schools should have non-academic goals as well. Such goals might
include:
- At least 50% of families whose students attend this school
will attend at least one family/student/teacher conference each
year
- At least 75% of the school's seniors will apply for entrance
into at least three post-secondary institutions
- At least 15 members of the community will share their expertise
with students over the coming year
- Over the next three years, the school will establish internships
and apprenticeships for at least 25% of its students
KEY: Goals should widely understood and supported by faculty, families
and students. It is not good enough to have goals, if they are not
known, understood and embraced by faculty, families and students.
III. Multiple Measures
Multiple measures are used to assess progress. As noted in the examples
of measurable goals given above, the CSC strongly believes that schools
should use standardized tests AND other measures such as, but not
limited to:
- standardized tests, which are required in Minnesota
- pre-post writing measures
- and achieving a benchmark level of proficiency in public speaking.
That is why the CSC strongly recommends use of multiple measures such
as those described above, to help give a fuller picture of the progress
students are making. Using a variety of measures also shows students
that the school values a broader range of skills, beyond those that
can be measured by standardized tests.
Valuable Features:
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Having an independent evaluator. An evaluation coordination
can help the educators and the charter board decide on how to assess
the school. Student assessment is a complex, though vital, field.
Minnesota charter schools have had extensive experience with evaluators.
Outside evaluators can be enormously valuable when the school wants
to request that its contract be renewed. A professional evaluator
can help give the school credibility as it presents findings that
(hopefully) show the school's students are making progress, and that
the contract should be renewed.
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Creating an evaluation committee. CSC recommends these committees
include faculty, families, community members, and in the case of secondary
schools, students. These committees can help guide and oversee the
school's evaluation program. In some cases, these committees include
a professional evaluator, whether from a local or nearby university,
or an independent evaluation consultant, such as described above.
- Surveying graduates to gather important information. Some
schools that have lasted decades periodically interview graduates. Again
the idea is to help the school learn what it is doing well, and what
can/should be improved. Some schools make the graduate survey something
that current students do as a part of their course work. This has the
added benefit of helping students apply some of the ideas of writing
and research and statistics they are learning.
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Resources:
Many other resources on evaluation and assessment are available. Among
the best are those produced by the following:
The Northwest Regional Laboratory has developed a workbook on Assessment
and Accountability especially for people starting charter schools. We
strongly recommend reviewing this publication: www.nwrel.org/charter/Workbook/cs_workbook3.pdf
Charter Friends Network: www.charterfriends.org/cfi-accountability.html
National Center on Educational Outcomes - this University of Minnesota
Center focuses on outcomes for students with special needs. However, their
website has many excellent suggestions: education.umn.edu/NCEO/
The Mid-continent research for Education and Learning has compiled a
large database of standards, in many curriculum areas: www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/
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