As the country approaches the 10-year mark since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), it's clear that K-12 education is at a crucial juncture.
Despite recent progress, EdTrust’s recent analysis of state ESSA implementation reveals gaps both in how states measure school performance and how they support struggling schools. To provide access to high-quality education for all students, state leaders can strengthen their school accountability systems and provide meaningful support to schools that need it most.
Why This Matters Now
Let's be real: the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequities in the education system. Students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities and English learners have been disproportionately affected.
To help state leaders understand who has been impacted, robust accountability systems can be used to accurately identify the schools that are struggling to serve these students and provide them with the resources and support they need to succeed.
Promising State Actions and Opportunities for Improvement
The good news is that there are promising school performance measurement practices across states. For instance, 13 states are using value-table models to measure student growth, which focus on moving students toward grade-level proficiency rather than just comparing them to their peers. This is particularly important because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, Indiana’s measure of chronic absenteeism — an indicator used by 35 states — incentivizes schools to support students with the most absences by giving schools credit for every student whose attendance rose by at least three percentage points from the previous year.
However, these bright spots are the exception, not the rule. Here are some of our findings that still need addressing:
- States could provide clear, summative ratings of school performance on their report card websites, which enables communities to understand how they are performing.
- 11 states incorporate the performance of student groups into their overall school performance ratings. This means that in 39 states, a school could receive a high rating even if it's not serving certain groups of students effectively.
- Half of states have set criteria for identifying Targeted Support and Improvement schools — those with consistently underperforming student groups — in a way that’s consistent with the intent of ESSA (i.e., to act as an early warning system to catch and support schools struggling to support one or more student groups).
- States can consider setting exit criteria for schools identified as low-performing that ensure meaningful and sustainable progress. This prevents schools from exiting a school improvement state without clear evidence that they've truly improved.
Despite these challenges, some states are showing the way forward. For instance, Pennsylvania stands out for its approach to exit criteria for schools identified as low performing. They require not just growth in achievement but also a plan for sustaining that growth and evidence of participation in the state's technical assistance programs.
When it comes to supporting school improvement, Connecticut and Texas demonstrate promising practices. Connecticut details clear, progressively higher requirements, monitoring and support for schools that aren’t making progress. Texas provides required leadership development and coaching for school leaders in identified schools that aligns with improvement priorities.
Harnessing Accountability for Equity and Continuous Improvement
State policymakers have the power to reform accountability systems to support improved student outcomes. They can:
- Strengthen school ratings. Ensure that the performance of all student groups is meaningfully incorporated into overall school ratings.
- Improve transparency. Make school performance data clear, accessible, actionable and comparable between schools for all stakeholders.
- Set rigorous but attainable exit criteria. Work with schools until they've demonstrated measurable, sustainable improvement.
- Leverage school improvement funds. Use a combined approach that ensures all identified schools get some support while also encouraging innovative, evidence-based interventions.
- Implement meaningful resource allocation reviews. Use these reviews as a real tool for equity. Consider all types of resources, not just funding, and set thresholds that allow support for a meaningful number of districts.
State leaders have the tools to drive real change. Stronger accountability systems and leveraging ESSA provisions to their fullest will help ensure that every student, in every school, has the chance to succeed. State leaders have a prime opportunity to lead the charge for education equity and excellence.
