• Educational Accountability - NCREL - Learning Point Associates has a collection of resources to help rural school and community leaders address a multitude of issues, compiled here for quick reference.   Additional resources are also included - including resources for implementing No Child Left Behind and resources for educational accountability.
• Shooting for the Sun - The Message of Middle School Reform - Selected Remarks of M. Hayes Mizell on Middle School Reform, School Improvement, and Academic Standards and Accountability - NSDC

Policy and Program Coherence:

According to Characteristics of Improved School Districts - Themes from Research (October, 2004), improved districts develop and implement policies and strategies that promote equity and excellence, and they review and revise those policies and strategies to ensure coherence among programs and practices linked to district goals.  Student learning is central to roles, budget, operating procedures, and personnel practices - all are redefined as needed.  All district systems are explicitly included in reinforcing common goals and efforts to attain the goals.  The central office monitors coherence of actions and programs to the focus and vision of the district.

Districts studied by the Learning First Alliance made instruction the "centerpiece of their improvement effort."  The districts then put in place a systemwide approach to improve instruction and built the necessary infrastructure to support instructional improvement (Togneri & Anderson, Leadership Brief, 20003).  Coherence was built by linking learning standards, grade-level and school system expectations for teaching and learning, and professional development, and implementing multiple measure accountability systems.

Corcoran and Lawrence (Changing district Culture and Capacity:  The Impact of the Merck Institute for Science Education Partnership, 2003) confirm the importance of aligned and coherent policies and programs.  "When district policies send clear and consistent messages to teachers about priorities and best practices, these messages are more likely to be understood, accepted as legitimate, and acted upon.  Conversely, failure to align policies produces inconsistent, confusing messages, and practitioners may respond differently, attending to the most pressing policy message or simply ignoring the guidance altogether" (p 21). 

Questions for reflection:

• How does the district ensure coherence in policy across district programs and operations?
• How does the district policy reflect the goals of equitable and excellent learning?
• How do operational systems in the district reinforce learning goals?

High Expectations and Accountability for Adults:

According to Characteristics of Improved School Districts - Themes from Research (October, 2004), improved districts hold all adults in the system accountable for student learning, beginning with the superintendent, senior staff, and principals.  The districts have clear expectations for instruction and apply consistent  pressure on schools for improved outcomes for students.  The superintendent and principals expect excellence by all, monitor performance, and provide feedback.  High expectations influence hiring decisions and prompt districts and schools to address issues regarding ineffective teachers.

Accountability must focus on academic results and classroom practice.  The expectation that that children - all children - will succeed must be reiterated weekly, even daily.

Raglan, Asera, & Johnson, as cited in Cawelti & Protheroe, Supporting Schoool Improvement:  Lessons from Districts Successfully Meeting the Challenge, 2003, p. 14, report that "superintendnets and other central office leaders kept schools focused on district goals by keeping expectations for principals clear, insisting that principals develop believable, workable plans, reducing distractions, keeping relevant data about academic progress visible and public, and carefully balancing flexibility and accountability."

The research of Snipes et al (Foundations for Success:  Case Studies of How Urban School Systems Improve Student Achievement, 2002) reports that improved districts put senior staff and principals on performance contracts tied to goals and that central offices took responsibility for the quality of instruction.  Setting specific targets, establishing deadlines, and holding schools accountable for all students helped all in the districts take the reforms seriously and avoid a "this too shall pass attitude" (p. 47).

Cawelti & Protheroe (2003, p. 63) report that school districts in North Carolina support the importance of high expectations of the adults in the system.  "(H)igh expectations were 'lived and implemented from the central office to the classroom.'  There was a sense of personal accountability for their students and a belief that everyone has a part to play.  No one is 'off the hook.'"

Elmore (Knowing the Right Thing to Do:  School Improvement and Performance-Based Accountability, 2003) asserts that "knowing the right thing to do is the central problem of school improvement.  Holding schools accountable for their performance depends on having people in schools with the knowledge, skill, and judgment to make the improvement that will increase student performance" (p.9). 

Questions for reflection:

• How does the district and school communicate high expectations for adult performance?
• What processes are used in the district/building for accountability and to provide feedback to staff?
• How does the district/building monitor reform and change to maintain pressure for improved learning?

This page was updated on January 2, 2007.