Final Accountability Resolution
Adopted on January 15, 2009
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education believes that all students deserve an excellent and equitable education and that there is an urgent need to strengthen a system of continuous improvement in student achievement for all schools and districts; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature charged the State Board of Education to develop criteria to identify schools and districts that are successful, in need of assistance, and those where students persistently fail, as well as to identify a range of intervention strategies and performance incentive systems; and
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education affirms the call for stronger accountability must be reciprocal between the state and local school district and accompanied by comprehensive funding reform for basic education that demonstrates “taxpayer money at work” in improving student achievement; and
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education will work with its education partners to create a unified system of federal and state accountability to improve student achievement; and
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education recognizes the need for a proactive, collaborative accountability system with support from the local school board, parents, students, staff in the schools and districts, regional educational service districts, business partners, and state officials to improve student achievement; and
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education believes that schools and districts should be recognized for best practices and exemplary work in improving student achievement; and
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education recognizes the critical role of local school boards in addressing student achievement in developing a new state accountability system as well as the need to create a new collaborative mechanism to require certain school district actions if student achievement does not improve.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the State Board of Education will develop an accountability index to identify schools and districts based on student achievement using criteria that are fair, consistent, transparent, and easily understood for the purposes of providing feedback to schools and districts to self-assess their progress as well as to identify schools with exemplary performance and those with poor performance; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Board of Education will work with its education partners to build the capacity of districts to help their schools improve student achievement. Programs will be tailored to the magnitude of need. As part of this system of assistance, the Board will ensure that all efforts are administered as part of one unified system of state assistance including the Innovation Zone – a new effort to help districts dramatically improve achievement levels; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that after a time set by the State Board of Education where there is no significant improvement based on an Accountability Index and other measures as defined by the Board, the district will be placed on Academic Watch and the State Board of Education will:
- Direct the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to conduct an academic performance audit using a peer review team
- Request the local school board, in collaboration with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, to develop an Academic Watch Plan based on the review findings, which would include an annual progress report to the local community
- Review, approve, or send back for modification to the local board, the Academic Watch plan, which once approved becomes a binding performance contract between the state and district
- Ensure that the local school board will remain responsible for implementation
- Request the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to monitor implementation of the plan and provide updates to the State Board of Education, which may require additional actions be taken until performance improvement is realized
- Declare that a district is no longer on Academic Watch when the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction reports to the Board that the district’s school or schools are no longer in Priority status; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board believes this accountability framework needs to be a part of the revisions made to the basic education funding system and that the Legislature will need to provide the State Board of Education, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the local school boards, with the appropriate legal authority and resources to implement the new system; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Board of Education will continue to refine the details of the accountability system by working with its education, parent, business and community partners over the next year.
About the State Board of Education: The State Board of Education provides advocacy and strategic oversight of public education. The board is comprised of 16 members: five are elected by school board directors, seven are appointed by the Governor, two serve as student representatives, and one serves as a private school representative. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is also a member.