Accountability in education means holding school systems responsible for providing a good education to all students and ensuring that tax dollars aren’t wasted. Accountability focuses on school outcomes and includes academic standards and assessments as well as the systems that prescribe how school districts must make decisions and spend public funds.
Each year, state education agencies (SEAs), like the New York State Education Department, pass tax dollars to each school system or local education agency (LEA). The SEA is responsible for setting the state’s academic standards (what the public expects students to learn at each grade level) and assessing student achievement (testing if students have learned what was expected). The SEA is also responsible for identifying schools and districts not meeting standards and specifying how districts must go about improving themselves. In New York, the state education department releases annual school and district performance data and requires that parents are equal partners in all decision-making and improvement efforts.
In turn, school districts, like the Rochester City School District, are responsible for ensuring that all students in their district are being taught from curriculum that is aligned to the state learning standards, by teachers who are certified and highly-qualified. Districts are also responsible for complying with federal, state and district regulations on how they spend public education funds.
In 2002, federal legislation known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was reauthorized, providing the public with an additional layer of accountability. NCLB requires schools to make adequate yearly progress (AYP)—annual improvement toward meeting the state’s standards. The Act requires state education agencies to monitor district performance and impose sanctions on chronically failing districts and schools. From a community perspective, the most important aspect of NCLB is that is gives parents rights: the right to detailed information about school performance and teacher qualifications, the right to participate in school improvement and the right to transfer from a failing or dangerous school.
Structure
At the state level, each education agency is directed by a commissioner of education and overseen by a board. In New York State, Richard Mills is the current Commissioner of Education who serves at the pleasure of the Board of Regents. The Board is comprised of 16 members elected by the State Legislature for five year terms, 12 of whom represent the state’s 12 judicial districts. Regent Milton L. Cofield represents the Rochester community.
At the local level, with a few excpetions, each district is governed by an elected board of education, charged with hiring and firing the superintendent and ensuring the district's accountability to the public. In 2007, a new state law required school boards to hire an auditor general who is responsible for monitoring district spending and district compliance.
At the school-level, school-based planning teams govern individual schools, directing school improvement and accountability efforts. By law, school-based planning teams are comprised of elected representatives of the administrator, teacher and parent constituencies.
Critical Questions
Reporting of Student Achievement
Shared Accountability/Decision-making
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Are parents/families full partners in school improvement and decision-making? Are parents and the community at-large consulted in program design, planning and evaluation?
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Do district- and school-level decision-making practices comply with district, state and federal policy and regulations? Does each school have a compliant, high-functioning school-based planning team? What are the obstacles to shared accountability?
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Are decisions data-driven and student-focused? Is rigorous program evaluation standard practice?
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Are parents and the community at-large consulted in program design, planning and evaluation? Is the parent constituency an active partner in school improvement planning and evaluation?
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Are the district’s applications for funds accurate and developed with consultation of the parent constituency? Does the district meet all reporting requirements of public funds?
Professional Development
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Do district and school professional development practices comply with district, state and federal policy and regulations?
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How –and how effectively—is the district recruiting, retaining and training a diverse, qualified teacher workforce? How do Rochester’s efforts compare to surrounding districts?
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What internal controls exist to ensure professional development activities are aligned with student needs identified in the school improvement plans? What internal controls exist to ensure all children have access to highly qualified teachers?
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What are the obstacles to developing a highly qualified, diverse teacher workforce?
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What are the total costs of professional development in the RCSD? How do these costs compare with surrounding districts? Are there sufficient checks on special interests in the professional development planning and allocation process?
Resources on Accountability & Effectiveness
New York State Education Department Resources:
US Department of Education Resources:
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Non-regulatory guidance on implementing the NCLB parental involvement requirements. This is a good source of information on what districts should be doing to support parental involvement.
NCLB Action Briefs--A joint publication of the National Coaltion for Parental Involvement and the Public Education Network, provides information on accountability systems and parent rights.
Education Trust—A Washington, D.C.-based research and advocacy group working to close the education achievement gap. Provides excellent tools to help communities understand student assessment data and understand their rights and opportunities for activism under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability—An Albany, NY-based organization working to advance accountability, innovation and choice in New York’s public education system.
© 2007-09 Rochester Fund for Educational Accountability.
