accountability
Schools eligible for federal improvement grants released
Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Heather.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn released the names of 47 schools identified as “persistently lowest-performing schools” as identified by federal guidelines. The identified schools will be eligible for additional Title I funds and must choose one of four intervention models to receive the funds.
The four intervention models are:
- Turnaround model. Replace the principal, rehire no more than 50 percent of the staff and grant the new principal sufficient operational flexibility (including in staffing, calendars/time and budgeting) to implement fully a comprehensive approach to substantially improve student outcomes.
- Restart model. Convert the school or close and reopen it under a charter school operator, a charter management organization, or an education management organization that has been selected through a rigorous review process. Washington does not currently authorize charter school operators or charter management organizations. The restart model can only be used through an education management organization.
- School closure. Close the school and enroll the students who attended that school in other schools in the district that are higher achieving.
- Transformation model. Replace the principal and take steps to increase teacher and school leader effectiveness; institute comprehensive instructional reforms; increase learning time and create community-oriented schools; and provide operational flexibility and sustained support.
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Gov: Legislation needed to compete for R2T
Posted on 18. Jan, 2010 by Heather.
Gov. Gregoire held a press conference today to formally announce Washington’s plan to become competitive for a Race to the Top (R2T) grant. [We were given a sneak peek last Thursday by Judy Hartmann, the governor's education policy advisor.]
To co-present her plan, Gov. Gregoire was joined by Randy Dorn, superintendent of public instruction; Mary Jean Ryan, chair of the State Board of Education; Dr. Bette Hyde, director of the Department of Early Learning; Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association; Gary Kipp, executive director of the Association of Washington School Principals; and Jennifer Wallace, executive director of the Professional Educator Standards Board.
The plan includes adopting legislation that would do the following:
- Allow the state to intervene and oversee schools where student achievement is persistently low.
- Revise teacher and principal evaluations to focus on instruction and use multiple measures, including student academic performance.
- Extend probationary period for teachers to 3 years, and allow districts to grant continuing contracts after 2 years.
- Allow non-institutions of higher education to offer teacher and principal preparation programs.
- Encourage increased parent involvement and input.
- Provide for adoption of Common Core Standards.
- Encourage local dollars to be used to close the achievement gap and increase STEM instruction. (e.g. TRI pay, changing the I from Incentives to Innovation).
Gov. Gregoire made the statement that she is ”confident that if we don’t pass this legislation we won’t qualify” for R2T.
We also learned that Washington State will participate in a pilot of National Board certification for principals, and Dr. Hyde presented the governor’s proposed early learning program, called All Start.
The Senate Early Learning &K-12 committee will hold a work session on R2T shortly where Superintendent Dorn, Ms. Ryan and Ms. Hartmann will present their R2T plan. You can watch their presentation on TVW.
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SBE adopts accountability framework legislation
Posted on 04. Jan, 2010 by Heather.
The State Board of Education adopted legislation related to its accountability framework today in a special meeting in Olympia.
The approved legislation now goes to the Legislature for its approval during the 2010 session beginning next week. If passed by the Legislature the SBE will implement a system of identifying and assisting low-performing schools and districts, and gain intervention authority. The new system would also identify and reward the state’s top-performing schools and districts.
This work is the much-anticipated result of the many, many months of work by the SBE’s System Performance Accountability workgroup, as well as the Board itself. The U.S. Department of Education deserves a mention, as the intervention models in the plan are required for School Improvement Grants (as well as future receipt of Title I funds).
George Scarola testified on behalf of Excellent Schools Now, along with Caroline King. They spoke to the merits of the framework and the need for accountability at all levels.
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SBE Accountaility subgroup meeting today
Posted on 13. Oct, 2009 by Heather.
The State Board of Education’s System Performance Accountability (SPA) subgroup is meeting today at the Puget Sound Skills Center. The agenda and other meeting materials are available here.
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SBE to meet Sept. 17-18
Posted on 16. Sep, 2009 by Heather.
The State Board of Education is set to meet tomorrow and Friday at the Puget Sound ESD in Renton. Thursday the Board will be looking big picture education reform, CORE 24 implementation, and the Accountability Index. Friday looks to be largely about WASL scores and assessment system updates. The full agenda is available here.
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SBE: System Performance Accountability recap
Posted on 18. Feb, 2009 by admin.
Yesterday, the State Board of Education’s System Performance Accountability advisory groupmet at the Puget Sound ESD in Renton. The meeting was largely an opportunity to update members and receive feedback. Many of the updates were presented at the SBE meeting last month in Tumwater (you can read about that here).
The advisory group was also presented with a timeline for the accountability system. Here are some of the major action items:
March- OSPI’s Technical Advisory Committee to review proposed SBE Accountability Index
May- SBE finalizes draft Accountability Index
July- SBE finalizes proposal on OSPI Continuous Improvement Programs, including Innovation Zone, Academic Watch and recognition program
October- SPA advisory group drafts rule language on school improvement plans
December- SBE works with OSPI on advancing new state index to use in place of current NCLB system to identify AYP
Stay tuned as we continue to track this very important work.
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(Almost) LIVE BLOG: SBE
Posted on 14. Jan, 2009 by admin.
(The SBE jumped around a bit this morning due to presenters’ schedules, so the morning was blogged as a block to make it easier to read.)
9:15am-12pm
Accountability Update - Kris Mayer, Edie Harding, Pete Bylsma
Warren Smith: Change to SBE “believes that all students deserve a quality and equitable education”
Phyllis Bunker Frank: Be mindful that “quality” and “equitable” are not readily defined
Eric Liu: Need to be clear on what SBE means by “reciprocity”
2009 Work Plan
Mary Jean Ryan: Expressed doubt over needing to wait until the 2011 Legislative Session to put forward a budget proposal
Ms. Harding: Considering the fiscal climate makes sense to wait until next biennium
- Changes
- First indicator changed to “non-low income students” rather than “all students” (prevents double counting of low-income students
- Scale changed from 5 points (0-4) to 7 points (1-7)
- Changes from 4 tiers to 5 tiers (addition of Very Good tier)
- Propose exempting ELL results in the first 3 years of enrollment, or until acquiring intermediate English proficiency
- Propose using other means for holding alternative schools accountable
- Propose allowing schools/districts the option of excluding Improvement indicator if performing at high achievement levels
- Propose counting highest grade 10 results through August of grade 10
Status of Basic Education Finance Task Force Report - Rep. Ross Hunter
The standard presentation Rep. Hunter has done across the state. It appeared that about half of SBE members were unfamiliar with the contents of the BEFTF report. Most of the comments/questions focused on details.
Public Comment
-Karen Davis, WEA - Appreciate the changes and responsiveness of the Board, but have reservations over the implementation timeline of the index (especially in regard to funding); also concerned about having two accountability systems, it’s confusing
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LIVE BLOG: BEFTF
Posted on 18. Nov, 2008 by admin.
(Members present, FYI - Jarrett, Hartmann, Haigh, Hunter, Bergeson, Grimm, Tom, Priest, Hyde, Kowalkowski, Chow)
2:45pm-3:35pm
Discussion of proposals, continued (straw poll in italics)
- Accountability: FFC (Chow, Hyde, Kowalkowski, Haigh), Model Schools (Jarrett, Hunter, Haigh, Tom, Priest, Dolan, Hyde, Bergeson)
>>Ms. Pennucci ran through the proposals (again, the TF is working from this matrix). Rep. Hunter asked clarifying questions about achievement targets in the LEVF and FFC proposals. In the LEVF proposal, districts and the state set achievement targets. In the FFC proposal, the CQEW sets achievement targets (based on funding levels). [For previous discussion on the CQEW, see here.] According to Bill Freund, when the FFC began working on its proposal, its members weren’t aware of the State Board of Education’s accountability work.
>>Then members repeated previous discussions and reviewed the CQEW. Many TF members take issue with the CQEW watering down expectations for schools because of what it sees as inadequate funding. These members spoke in favor the idea of a CQEW - Chow, Haigh, Kowalkowski. Rep. Hunter expressed doubt of the need for an additional financial advisory group, and indicated WSIPP could easily fulfill that function (and has previously provided financial estimates). Mr. Freund disagreed that WSIPP has the capability to cost out policies.
>>Dr. Bergeson shared her support of an academic accountability system similar to the “financial watch” system already in place. Chair Grimm advocated for the empowerment of the governor to set performance standards. Dr. Bergeson then shared her disapproval of the previous decision by the Legislature to remove oversight/intervention authority from the Superintendent of Public Instruction (the entity she would like to see empowered to set performance standards). Rep. Hunter defended the Model Schools proposal’s use of the SBE’s accountability system. Rep. Jarrett does not want to delegate the responsibility of oversight to another entity. Dr. Hyde supported the idea of a CQEW coupled with the SBE’s work.<<
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LIVE BLOG: SBE meeting
Posted on 05. Nov, 2008 by admin.
2:50pm-2:55pm
Presentation on school funding
Rep. Ross Hunter
Rep. Hunter began by thanking the SBE for approving CORE 24. He then went on to advocate for an accountability system. Not only do we need to give every student the chance to succeed, we need to hold schools accountable for that success. Rep. Hunter added that an accountability system goes hand-in-hand with a new funding model.
Short break before the big topic of the day
3:10pm-5:10pm
Draft Policy Framework for Accountability Concepts
Dr. Pete Bylsma, consultant to SBE
Andy Calkins, Mass Insight
Meghan O’Keefe, Mass Insight
Edie Harding
Dr. Bylsma ran through the Accountability Index again, as a refresher to the SBE.
Ms. Frank asked about differentiating between alternative and traditional schools in the struggling tier. Dr. Bylsma explained that alternative schools would not be held to a different standard, but were separated out for informational purposes.
Mr. Calkins waxed poetic about the purpose of school intervention and turnaround, and then Ms. O’Keefe went into some detail about the proposed intervention strategies (namely the Innovation Zone). For more detail on this, check out my previous post and read this SBE overview.
Now for discussion…
Dr. Fox is concerned about the “hammer” language still present in the proposal. She is doubtful of the need for the Innovation Zone, because of its heavy-handed language and cost. We haven’t gotten to the point of looking past heavy-handed interventions to offering support.
Ms. Lamb focused on the “reciprocal accountability” language in the Mass Insight proposal, saying the description is vague. She asked about tracking cohorts instead, to measure year-to-year growth. Ms. Lamb also wants to clarify the goals of any recognition system.
Mr. Liu said he hears “reciprocal accountability” to go beyond just students and teachers, but also includes community members, parents, businesses and non-profit organizations.
Mr. Dal Porto asked about the timeline for finalizing the accountability system.
On to public comment…
Martha Rose Laffey, WSSDA - concerns over local control in intervention process
- Wants control to remain with local school board, training for school board members, and school board involvement in peer review
- Questions over whether State can put elected officials in binding conditions
- Supports Option A before the Board
Mick Miller, Deer Park School District - encourages SBE to take time to talk to practioners; need to inform practioners in the State about CORE 24; concerns over timeline of accountability system
Charles Hoff, former school board member and superintendent - need to get more parents involved in their children’s education
Holly Williams, school board director, Evergreen Public Schools - release the spreadsheets, formulas and data so public can get a better understanding; if SBE proceeds with the Innovation Zone, make it available to all Priority schools and districts
Kay Brader, school board member, Prosser School District - accountability system must be easy to understand with clear roles for all involved parties
Kim Howard, Washington State PTA - need to be able to communicate to parents any accountability system; change Accountability Index to 1-5 scale, instead of 0-4; allow for fractional points to be awarded in Index
Mary Lindquist, WEA - latest proposal addresses many (but not all) of WEA’s concerns; good to have partnership between stakeholders in accountability system; must secure funding for these changes
Alan Spiciatti, Highline Public Schools - encourages use of multiple years of data in accountability system; need alignment between federal and state accountability systems; encourage internal accountability
Kathleen Anderson, school board member, Coupeville School District - layer new system on top of current system; need accountability to be part of funding system, not an add on
Larry Ehl, Partnership for Learning - interventions should not be opt-in
Lisa Macfarlane, LEV - need to reform and fund our schools; need to support schools in the creation of intervention proposals
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SBE meeting preview
Posted on 31. Oct, 2008 by admin.
The agenda and support materials for next week’s State Board of Education meeting are up on the Board’s website. The meeting will be held at Highline Community College and is scheduled to run 9am-5pm on Wednesday, Nov. 5th and 9am-3pm on Thursday, Nov. 6th.
Items on the agenda include:
- Proposal to create a CORE 24 Implementation Task Force, whose purpose would be (you guessed it) to look at implementation issues and advise the SBE accordingly. Action Item
- Release of the much-anticipated (by me, anyway) High School Transcript Study.
- Presentation on the Math K-8 Curricular Review and recommendations. Action Item
- Discussion of the draft system performance accountability framework (a meaty item to be sure). Action Item
- Update on the science standards review.
We’ll be there next week, and posting updates as we go.
