DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment...

24
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION Institute for Developlent of Educational Activities, Dayton, Ohio. PUB DATE 74 NOTE 24p. AVAILABLE FROM I/D/E/A, Mail Orders, P.O. Box 628, Dayton, Ohio 45419 ($2.00, payment must accompany order) EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS MF-$0.75 HC-$1.50 PLUS POSTAGE Behavioral Objectives; Conference Reports; *Educational Accountability; *Educational Assessment; Educational Needs; *Educational Objectives; Educational Planning; Elementary Secondary Education; Evaluation Criteria; *Performance Based Education; *Performance Criteria; State School District Relationship; Statewide Planning; Teacher Attitudes ABSTRACT The seminar on assessment and accountability in education was believed to be the first national conference concerned with these coordinate issues. The participants generally concurred that accountability is a wany faceted phenomenon with varying interpretations. It was further agreed that the major obstacle to setting up measures of accountability has been a lack of knowledge: school personnel have not known what to do or what to identify in demonstrating and describing the effectiveness of the educational enterprise. Before school personnel can be held completely accountable, there must be a sharper focus on the goals and objectives of teaching and learning. (Author/WM)

Transcript of DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment...

Page 1: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 098 670 ED 106 508

TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat orPromise? An Occasional Paper.

INSTITUTION Institute for Developlent of Educational Activities,Dayton, Ohio.

PUB DATE 74NOTE 24p.AVAILABLE FROM I/D/E/A, Mail Orders, P.O. Box 628, Dayton, Ohio

45419 ($2.00, payment must accompany order)

EDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORS

MF-$0.75 HC-$1.50 PLUS POSTAGEBehavioral Objectives; Conference Reports;*Educational Accountability; *Educational Assessment;Educational Needs; *Educational Objectives;Educational Planning; Elementary Secondary Education;Evaluation Criteria; *Performance Based Education;*Performance Criteria; State School DistrictRelationship; Statewide Planning; TeacherAttitudes

ABSTRACTThe seminar on assessment and accountability in

education was believed to be the first national conference concernedwith these coordinate issues. The participants generally concurredthat accountability is a wany faceted phenomenon with varyinginterpretations. It was further agreed that the major obstacle tosetting up measures of accountability has been a lack of knowledge:school personnel have not known what to do or what to identify indemonstrating and describing the effectiveness of the educationalenterprise. Before school personnel can be held completelyaccountable, there must be a sharper focus on the goals andobjectives of teaching and learning. (Author/WM)

Page 2: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

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Page 4: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

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Page 5: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

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Page 6: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

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Page 7: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

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t kno

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t to

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r w

hat t

oid

entif

y ir

± te

. ins

of

dem

onst

ratin

g an

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scri

b-in

g th

e ef

fect

iven

ess

of th

eed

ucat

iona

l ent

er-

pris

e. B

efor

e sc

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pers

onne

l can

be

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plet

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unta

ble,

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, som

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men

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a ne

cess

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com

pone

ntof

acc

ount

abili

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of a

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ility

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ensu

cces

sful

ly im

plem

ente

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som

e st

ates

.B

ecau

se o

f th

em

any

vari

able

sin

here

nt ;n

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educ

atio

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acco

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se c

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used

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ctiv

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as a

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for

"w

eedi

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ache

r.In

anv

stem

of

acco

unta

bilit

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eou

tcom

es to

be

achi

eved

bec

ome

the

goal

s an

d ob

ject

ives

of

the

ente

rpri

se.

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ablis

hing

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acco

unta

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ysy

stem

serv

es m

any

purp

oses

. Am

ong

them

are

dete

rmin

ing

emph

asis

and

di:e

ctio

n,de

velo

ping

con

sist

cyan

d un

ity o

fpu

rpos

e, g

ener

atin

g pu

blic

supp

ort,

and

dete

rmin

ing

need

edre

sour

ces.

A s

yste

mac

coun

tabi

Lty

can

be

func

tions

' my

in th

ose

educ

atio

nal

inst

itutio

ns w

hich

hav

e de

fini

tely

esta

blis

hed

goal

s an

d ob

ject

ives

,cl

earl

yde

fine

dva

li:la

ted

inst

ruct

iona

lpr

ogra

ms

and

stra

tegi

es, a

nd (

awfu

llyin

stitu

ted

spec

ific

pro

cedu

ms

for

mea

suri

ng th

e pr

ogra

ms'

outc

omes

inte

':ns

of th

e st

,4:1

obj

ectiv

es.

Lim

itatio

ns in

the

cu. r

ent m

etho

ds o

fm

easu

ring

stu

dent

ach

ieve

men

tdi

ctat

eag

ains

t the

use

of

any

Tin

gle

crite

rion

for

eval

uatin

g te

ache

rs.

Such

am

isap

plic

atio

n of

ach

ieve

men

tm

easu

rem

ents

is p

oor

man

agem

ent

prac

tice

and

can

lead

to th

eea

rly

dem

ise

of e

duca

tiona

lac

coun

tabi

lity.

In s

yste

ms

whe

reac

coun

tabi

lity

mea

sure

s ar

e fu

nctio

nal,

teac

hers

enj

oyan

incr

ease

d ro

le in

edu

catio

nal d

ecis

ion

mak

ing.

Alth

ough

the

are

som

ewha

t suc

cess

ful

mod

els

of a

ccou

ntab

ility

in o

pera

tion,

any

impl

emen

tatio

n of

the

conc

ept.

mus

t und

ergo

som

e m

odif

icat

ion

to f

itlo

cal c

ondi

tions

.T

he im

plem

enta

tion

ofan

acc

ount

abili

tysy

stem

is li

kely

to b

e su

cces

sful

ifev

eryo

ne a

ssoc

iate

( w

ith th

e ed

ucat

iona

lpr

oces

s ha

s re

ceiv

ed a

n ad

equa

teun

ders

tand

ing

of th

e co

ncep

t, its

impl

icat

ions

, and

its

cons

eque

nces

.

3

Page 8: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

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ass

essm

ent a

nd a

ccou

ntab

ility

, con

vene

d at

a se

min

ar in

Atla

nta

for

the

purr

se o

f an

alyz

-in

g th

is r

apid

ly p

rolif

erat

ing

and

incr

easi

ngly

cont

rove

rsia

l i.,s

ue.

The

con

fere

es w

ere

char

ged

as f

ollo

ws:

"Ass

essm

ent a

nd a

ccou

ntab

ility

are

am

ong

the

mos

t cri

tical

issu

es f

acin

g ed

ucat

ors

toda

y.W

ithin

the

last

sev

eral

yea

rs, 3

7 st

ates

luxe

in-

stitu

ted

som

e ki

nd o

f pr

ogra

m o

f as

sess

men

tan

d ac

coun

tabi

lity,

and

act

ivity

is b

urge

onin

gin

the

rest

of

the

stat

es. T

he p

urpo

ses

of th

isse

min

ar a

re to

exa

min

e th

e st

ate

of th

e ar

t; se

ew

here

we

are

with

the

mov

emen

t; cr

itiqu

e it;

and

repo

rt h

ones

tly to

edu

cato

rs a

nd th

e pu

blic

on w

hat i

s be

ing

done

. how

it is

bei

ng d

one,

and

wha

t sho

uld

be d

one.

"T

he c

enfe

renc

e ag

enda

was

pla

nned

and

impl

emen

ted

to in

clud

e tr

eatm

ent o

f th

e ac

-co

mpl

ishm

ents

and

pre

sent

sta

tus

of n

atio

nal

asse

ssm

ent,

the

stat

us o

f st

atew

ide

asse

ssm

ent

and

acco

unta

bilit

y, a

nd f

utur

e di

rect

ions

of

the

mov

emen

t.T

he c

onfe

rees

wer

e pr

ovid

ed w

ith m

ater

ials

prep

ared

by

the

Edu

catio

n C

omm

issi

on o

f th

eSt

ates

. the

Nat

iona

l Ass

ocia

tion

of S

choo

lB

oard

:, of

Edu

catio

n, th

e C

ente

r fo

r St

atew

ide

Edu

catio

nal A

sses

smen

t, an

d th

e C

oope

rativ

eA

ccou

ntab

ility

Pro

ject

.

4

Page 9: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

asse

ssm

ent

in h

isto

rical

pers

pect

ive

Geo

rge

R. B

rain

. dea

n of

the

Col

lege

of

Ed-

u,...

atio

n at

Was

hing

ton

Stat

e U

nive

rsity

, pla

ced

asse

ssm

ent i

nits

his

tori

cal p

ersp

octiv

e w

hen

he w

rote

- "T

he :s

sess

raen

t of

perf

orm

ance

is:7

31

an a

ge-o

ld p

ract

ice.

The

last

ver

se o

f th

e fi

rst

chap

ter

of th

e 12

,ok

of G

enes

is r

eads

, 'A

ndC

odW

eve

ryth

ing

that

He

had

mad

e, a

ndbe

hold

. it w

as e

,00d

.' 'T

hai s

ingl

e ac

t of

the

Cre

ator

app

aren

tly e

stab

lishe

d th

e pr

eced

ent

C.

for

a pr

act:l

e of

ass

essi

ng a

ll hu

man

beh

avio

r.E

ven

thou

gh m

an la

cks

godl

ike

mni

seie

nce,

he tr

ies

to f

ollo

w th

e pr

eced

ent.

and

itw

as o

nly

logi

cal t

hat i

n tim

e th

e co

ncep

t of

asse

ssm

ent

cam

( to

be

:,ptd

ied

to th

e fi

eld

of e

duca

tion.

-The

pro

cess

of

asse

ssin

g th

e ed

ucat

iona

lat

tain

men

ts o

f st

uden

ts b

egan

alm

ost f

our

thou

sand

.'ea

rs a

go. T

he r

ecor

ds o

f th

e Sh

unD

ynas

ty o

f an

cien

t Chi

na r

epor

tan

ela

bora

tesy

stem

of

achi

evem

ent e

xam

inat

ions

whi

chpr

o-vi

ded

the

aven

ue o

f en

try

to th

e ci

vil s

ervi

ce...

.

"Ass

esm

cnt p

laye

d an

impo

rtan

t rol

e in

the

earl

'' dv

velo

men

t of

publ

ic e

duca

tion

in th

isco

untr

y.. H

orac

e M

ann

mad

e pr

ovis

ions

for

asy

stem

nf

eval

uatio

n an

d re

port

ing

in h

is p

lan

edut

atil

n fo

r th

e st

ate

of M

assa

chus

etts

...W

hen

the

1*.S

. Off

ice

of E

duca

tion

was

est

ab-

lishe

d in

1,,t

iT. o

ne o

f th

e du

ties

give

nto

the

U.S

. Com

mis

sion

er o

f E

duca

tion

was

to d

e-

term

ine

'the

prc_

,res

s of

edu

catio

n.-A

sses

smen

t beg

an to

bec

ome

a sc

ienc

e, o

r at

leas

t a d

evel

opin

g te

chno

logy

.in

the

earl

y ye

ars

of th

is c

entu

ry. N

ow w

ith th

epr

olif

erat

ion

ofw

ide.

scal

e ev

alua

tion

prog

ram

s, w

ith th

e pe

r-fe

ctio

n of

ele

ctro

nic

test

pro

cess

ing

equi

pmen

t,an

d w

ith p

ublic

pres

sure

hr

acco

unta

bilit

y in

the

educ

atio

nal e

nter

pris

e,as

sess

men

t con

-tin

ues

to p

lay

a le

adin

g ro

lein

the

proc

ess

ofed

ucat

ion.

'"

natio

nal

asse

ssm

ent

in a

mer

ican

educ

atio

n

'141

1111

111

The

195

4 de

cisi

on o

f th

e U

.S.

Supr

eme

Cou

rt,

in th

e hi

stor

icca

se o

f B

row

n v.

Boa

rd o

f E

d-ua

tion

of T

opek

a, K

ansa

s, s

igna

led

the

begi

n-ni

ng o

f a

revo

lutio

n in

Am

eric

aned

ucat

ion.

Con

gres

s be

gan

appr

opri

atin

gva

st s

ums

ofm

oney

for

com

pens

ator

y ed

ucat

ion

and

a va

-ri

ety

of o

ther

prog

ram

s in

eff

orts

to e

qual

ize

educ

atio

nal o

ppor

tuni

ties

for

all

the

natio

n's

citiz

ens.

Sin

ce th

e U

.S. O

ffic

eof

Edu

catio

n is

resp

onsi

ble

for

desi

gnin

g, im

plem

entin

g,fu

nd-

ing,

and

eva

luat

ing

fede

rally

fun

ded

prog

ram

s,in

196

3. F

ranc

is K

eppe

lI

then

U.S

. Com

mis

-si

oner

of

Edu

catio

n) b

egan

talk

sw

ith a

num

ber

of e

duca

tors

on

the

feas

ibili

tyan

d ne

ed f

or a

natio

nwid

e st

udy

to d

escr

ibe

for

the

4. m

eric

anpu

blic

the

educ

atio

nal a

ttain

men

tsof

var

ious

grou

ps. T

he id

ea o

f a

natio

nal a

sses

smen

tpr

o-gr

am e

ncou

nter

ed c

onsi

dera

ble

resi

stan

cebe

caus

e it

was

con

fuse

d w

itha

natio

nwid

e in

-di

vidu

al te

stin

g pr

ogra

m. M

any

fear

s,in

clud

ing

fear

of

a na

tiona

l cur

ricu

lum

,w

ere

expr

esse

dby

thos

e w

ho w

ere

unsu

re a

bout

the

proc

esse

san

d pr

oced

ures

whi

ch th

eas

sess

men

t pro

gram

wou

ld e

mpl

oy.

As

a re

sult

of K

eppe

l'sco

ncer

n, p

lann

ing

for

natio

nal a

sses

smen

t beg

an in

196

4w

ith th

ees

tabl

ishm

ent o

f th

e E

xplo

rato

ryC

omm

ittee

on A

sses

sing

the

Prog

ress

of

Edu

catio

n(E

CA

PE).

EC

APE

was

est

ablis

hed

with

Car

-ne

gie

Cor

pora

tion

fund

s to

inve

stig

ate

the

pos-

sibi

litie

s of

a n

atio

nal a

sses

smen

tan

d de

velo

ppl

ans

and

inst

rum

cnta

tion

for

itsco

nduc

t. T

hew

ork

of E

CA

F'E

res

ulte

d in

the

desi

gn c

urre

ntly

follo

wed

by

Nat

iona

l Ass

essm

ent

of E

duca

-tio

nal P

rogr

ess.

The

act

ual

adm

inis

trat

ion

o:".

the

exer

cise

s in

the

scho

ols

bega

nin

the

spri

ngof

196

9. T

hepr

ogra

m c

urre

ntly

rec

eive

s its

maj

or f

undi

ng f

rom

the

Nat

iora

lC

ente

r fo

rE

duca

tiona

l Sta

tistic

s in

the

U.S

.O

ffic

e of

Edu

catio

n.Se

min

ar p

artic

ipan

t Ral

ph W

.T

yler

was

chai

rman

of

EC

APE

and

bec

ause

of

his

lead

er-

ship

is c

omm

only

ref

erre

dto

as

the

"fat

her"

of

natio

nal a

sses

smen

t. In

his

initi

alre

mar

ks to

othe

r co

nfer

ees,

Tyl

er in

dica

ted

a m

ajor

pur

-po

se o

f th

e na

tiona

l ass

essm

ent

prog

ram

is to

prov

ide

the

icy

publ

ic w

ith c

ensu

s-lik

eda

taB

ratn

-So

nw V

alor

: of

Ass

essm

ent,-

t',,n

;pac

tpz

ihilc

atto

n of

the

Edu

, it o

n C

omn,

i;,:s

ion

tit.it

,I

/cox

er.

('o

lora

do, V

olti.

No.

1. F

eb-

11.1

.1r

197.

).

Page 10: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

On

the

c,iti

catio

nal a

chie

vem

ents

of

child

ren,

yout

h. a

nd a

dults

data

whi

ch w

ill f

urni

sh a

dpnd

ahh.

bac

kgro

und

of in

form

atio

n ab

out

educ

atio

nal a

ttain

men

ts. t

he p

rogr

ess

bein

gm

ade.

and

the

prob

lem

s st

ill to

be

face

d in

achi

evin

g th

e na

tion'

s ed

ucat

iona

l asp

irat

ions

.H

is r

emar

k: m

ade

it cl

ear

that

nat

iona

l ass

ess-

men

t ,z-

is n

ot e

stab

lishe

d to

:tro

vide

acc

ount

-ab

ility

mea

sure

s fo

r pa

rtic

ular

sch

ools

or

scho

olsy

stem

s.T

he ta

sk o

f th

e E

xplo

rato

ry C

omm

ittee

onA

.s.:s

.:ing

the

Prog

ress

of

Ed

ucat

io.)

beg

at-,

with

an e

xten

sive

exa

min

atio

n of

test

ing

prog

ram

sor

dina

rily

use

d in

the

scho

ols.

Thi

s ex

artin

at io

nre

veitl

ed th

at th

.:! c

omm

only

ti.-

:ed

test

ing

pro-

gi-a

ms

do n

ot f

urni

sh in

form

atio

n ab

out w

hat

stud

ents

hav

e le

arne

d. R

ath

they

indi

cate

how

far

a s

t tal

ent i

s ab

ove

or b

elow

the

aver

age

scor

e of

the

grou

p w

ith w

hich

he

is c

ompa

red

and

how

far

aver

age

scor

e° o

f a

clas

sroo

mor

sch

oc)

is a

bove

or

belo

w th

e av

erag

e of

the

grou

p w

ith w

hich

it is

com

pare

d. T

he r

esul

ts,

then

. are

Li,:

eful

for

sor

ting

or c

ateg

oriz

ing

but

are

of li

ttle

valu

e fo

r :t.

.1)s

tant

ially

impr

ovin

ged

ucat

iona

l pro

gram

s_ d

eliv

ery

syst

ems,

proc

-es

ses,

or

ri-o

cedu

res.

Con

vent

atr

ial a

chie

vem

ent

test

s ar

e co

n-st

ruct

ed to

mea

sure

indi

vidu

al d

iffe

renc

es a

ndfu

rnis

h re

liabl

e av

erag

e sc

ores

for

gra

de le

vels

or s

choo

ls. T

est c

ompo

nent

s ar

e co

ncen

trat

edO

n th

ose

tern

s w

hich

are

typi

cal o

f av

erag

epe

rfor

man

ce. t

iNer

cise

s w

hich

all

child

ren

can

do a

nd th

ose

whi

ch o

nly

a fe

wca

n do

are

In r

evie

win

g st

anda

rdiz

ed a

chie

vem

ent t

ests

for

poss

ible

use

in th

e na

tiona

l ass

essm

ent,

EC

APE

fou

nd th

at m

ore

than

SO

per

cent

of

the

item

s in

the

mos

t wid

ely

used

ach

ieve

men

tte

sts

fell

betw

een

the

40 a

nd 6

0 pe

rcen

t lev

els

of d

iffi

culty

. App

roxi

mat

ely

5 pe

rcen

t of

the

item

s w

ere

exer

cise

s w

hich

cou

ld b

e co

rrec

tlyan

swer

ed b

y st

uden

ts in

the

low

er th

ird

of a

clas

s, a

nd a

noth

er 5

per

cent

rep

rese

nted

task

sap

prop

riat

e fo

r th

e up

per

thir

d. I

n or

der

toas

sess

the

prog

ress

of

educ

atio

n an

d in

form

teac

hers

. adm

inis

trat

ors,

and

par

ents

abo

utst

uden

t ach

ieve

men

t, it

is n

eces

sary

to d

eter

-m

int w

hat a

ll ch

ildre

n ha

ve le

arne

d. C

onse

-qu

ently

: for

the

purp

ose

of n

atio

nal a

sses

smen

t,it

was

nec

essa

ry to

dev

elop

exe

rcis

es in

whi

chth

e te

st it

ems

equa

lly r

epre

sent

ed th

e ac

hiev

e-m

ent c

hara

cter

istic

s of

the

low

er, m

iddl

e, a

ndup

per

thir

d of

stu

dent

s at

a p

artic

ular

age

leve

l.Si

nce

one

of th

e m

ajor

pur

pose

s of

the

asse

ss-

men

t pro

ject

is to

pro

vide

info

rmat

ion

that

can

be u

nder

stoo

d by

laym

en, t

he p

roce

dure

s us

edin

the

cons

truc

tion

of a

sses

smen

t exe

rcis

es in

-vo

lved

lay

citiz

ens

In e

ach

of th

e fi

elds

of

know

ledg

e in

clud

ed in

the

prog

ram

, sch

olar

s,te

ache

rs, a

nd c

urri

culu

m s

peci

alis

ts f

orm

ulat

edst

atem

ents

of

obje

ctiv

es th

ey b

elie

ved

refl

ecte

dth

e co

ntri

butio

n of

thei

r fi

eld

tow

ard

the

ed-

ucat

ion

of c

itize

ns a

t the

pre

scri

bed

age

leve

lsob

ject

ives

whi

ch s

choo

ls a

re s

eeki

ng to

atta

in.

For

each

of

the

maj

or o

bjec

tives

, pro

toty

peex

erci

ses

wer

e co

nstr

ucte

d w

hich

pro

vide

d op

-po

rtun

ities

for

stu

dent

s to

dem

onst

rate

the

beha

vior

impl

ied

by th

e ob

ject

ive.

The

list

s of

obje

ctiv

es a

nd e

xerc

ises

wer

e re

view

ed b

ypa

nels

of

citiz

ens

livin

g in

var

ious

sec

tions

of

the

Uni

ted

Stat

es. T

he ju

dgm

ent a

bout

eac

hob

ject

ive

was

mad

e on

the

basi

s of

two

ques

-tio

ns:

(1)

Is th

is s

omet

hing

impo

rtan

t for

peop

le to

lear

n to

day?

(2)

Is

it so

met

hing

Iw

ould

like

to h

ave

my

child

ren

lear

n? T

his

proc

ess

resu

lted

in s

ome

revi

sion

s an

d el

im-

inat

ions

. How

ever

, the

pro

cedu

re w

as d

esig

ned

to e

nsur

e th

at e

very

obj

ectiv

e be

ing

asse

ssed

was

con

side

red

impo

rtan

t by

scho

lars

, acc

epte

das

an

educ

atio

nal t

ask

by th

e sc

hool

, and

deem

ed d

esir

able

by

lay

citiz

ens.

The

ass

ess-

men

t ins

trum

ents

wer

e fi

eld

test

ed a

nd r

evis

edun

til th

e fi

nal b

atte

ry o

f ex

erci

ses

yiel

ded

suff

i-ci

ent i

nfor

mat

ion

abou

t the

ach

ieve

men

ts o

fth

e to

tal r

ange

of

stud

ents

.T

he a

sses

smen

t pro

ject

util

izes

a v

arie

ty o

fap

prai

sal t

echn

ique

s si

nce

man

y im

port

ant

kind

s of

edu

catio

nal a

chie

vem

ents

are

not

valid

ly in

dica

ted

by s

tude

nt r

espo

nses

on

pape

r-an

d-pe

ncil

test

s. T

he p

urpo

se o

f th

e pr

o-gr

am is

to a

sses

s th

e ac

hiev

emen

ts o

f gr

oups

and

subg

roup

s of

stu

dent

s; th

eref

ore,

sam

plin

gm

etho

ds a

re e

mpl

oyed

rat

her

than

test

ing

ever

yst

uden

t with

in a

n ag

e gr

oup.

Und

er s

ampl

ing

proc

edur

es, a

bat

tery

of

test

s di

vide

d in

to 1

4pa

rts

requ

ires

no

one

stud

ent t

o ta

ke m

ore

than

one-

four

teen

th o

f th

e to

tal.

Som

e of

the

test

ing

met

hods

em

ploy

ed a

re p

aper

-and

-pen

cil t

ests

,ve

rbal

que

stio

ns a

bout

inte

iest

s an

d ha

bits

,pe

rfor

man

ce te

sts

desi

gned

to d

emon

stra

tesk

ills,

and

par

ticip

atio

n in

gro

up p

roje

cts

in-

volv

ing

citiz

ensh

ip p

ract

ices

.T

he n

atio

nal a

sses

smen

t pro

gram

is d

esig

ned

for

peri

odic

rea

sses

smen

t bas

ed o

n co

mpa

riso

nof

dat

a fr

om th

e in

itial

ass

essm

ent o

f an

are

a.T

he O

ffic

e of

Man

agem

ent a

nd B

udge

t of

the

Exe

cutiv

e B

ranc

h of

the

Fede

ral G

over

nmen

tha

s se

lect

ed th

e na

tiona

l ass

essm

ent p

rogr

amas

the

soci

al in

dica

tor

for

wha

t it c

onsi

ders

basi

c el

emen

tary

and

sec

onda

ry e

duca

tion.

II

6I

Page 11: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

stat

ewid

eas

sess

men

tin

ucat

ion

In D

ecem

ber

1973

, the

Cen

ter

for

Stat

ewid

eE

duca

tiona

l Ass

essm

ent,

an a

ffili

ate

of E

duca

-tio

nal T

estin

g Se

rvic

e, P

rinc

eton

,N

ew J

erse

y,re

port

ed 6

0 as

sess

men

tpr

ogra

ms

oper

ated

by

the

50 s

tate

s, th

e D

istr

ict o

fC

olum

bia,

Pue

rto

Ric

o, a

nd th

e V

irgi

n Is

land

s.

Mos

t pro

gram

s ha

ve f

orm

ulat

cdst

ate-

Nid

ego

als

and,

in 3

1 st

ates

, tho

sego

als

have

bee

nfo

rmal

ly a

dopt

ed. F

orty

-nin

est

ates

ass

ess

bygr

ade

leve

l but

12

of th

ese

also

asse

ss b

y ag

ele

vel.

In th

ose

stat

es th

atut

ilize

gra

de le

vel,

grad

es f

our,

six

, and

eig

htar

e m

ost o

ften

asse

ssed

. How

ever

, sta

teas

sess

men

t pro

gram

sba

sed

on a

ge le

vel m

ost f

requ

ently

asse

ss a

ges

nine

, 13,

and

17.

Prac

tical

ly a

ll pr

ogra

ms

wer

e in

itiat

ed b

yst

ate

educ

atio

nal.

agen

cies

-- s

ome

prom

pted

by s

tate

boa

rds

of e

duca

tion

and

othe

rs m

an-

date

d by

sta

te le

gisl

atur

es.

All

stat

ewid

epr

ogra

ms-

are

coor

dina

ted

and

adm

inis

tere

d by

sta

te e

duca

tiona

lag

enci

es,

ofte

n ut

ilizi

ng o

utsi

de c

onsu

ltant

sor

con

trac

-to

rs. F

ifty

-eig

ht o

f th

e 60

prog

ram

s ar

e m

ainl

yco

ncer

ned

with

ass

essi

ng c

ogni

tive

area

s su

chas

lang

uage

art

s an

d m

athe

mat

ics.

For

ty-o

nepr

ogra

ms

incl

ude

som

e no

ncog

nitiv

ear

eas

with

atti

tude

tow

ard

scho

ol,

self

-con

cept

, and

citiz

ensh

ip b

eing

ass

esse

dm

ost f

requ

ently

. Am

ajor

ity o

f th

epr

ogra

ms

utili

ze s

tand

ardi

zed

inst

rum

ents

alth

ough

man

y pr

ogra

ms

also

Page 12: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

empl

oy o

bjec

tive-

refe

renc

ed in

stru

men

ts. T

enpr

ogra

ms

empl

oy s

tand

ardi

zed

and

obje

ctiv

e-re

fere

nced

inst

rum

ents

, whi

le 2

5pr

ogra

ms

utili

ze c

rite

rion

-ref

eren

ced

inst

rum

ents

. Mor

eth

an 5

0 pe

rcen

t of

the

prog

ram

s re

lyon

out

side

data

pro

cess

ing

cont

ract

ors

who

usu

ally

pro-

id,-

sco

ring

ser

vice

s an

d da

ta a

naly

sis.

'In

tere

st in

sta

tew

ide

asse

rsm

ent

appe

ars

toha

ve b

eer:

gen

erat

ed b

y na

tiona

l ass

essm

ent,

need

s as

sess

men

ts r

equi

red

for

rece

ipt o

f T

itle

III

fede

ral f

unds

, and

the

acco

unta

bilit

ym

ove-

men

t. T

hese

thre

e pr

ogen

itors

are

all

aim

edto

war

d ed

ucat

iona

l im

prov

emen

t and

dec

isio

nm

akin

g.T

he n

atio

nal a

sses

smen

tpr

ogra

m m

akes

avai

labl

e to

sta

tes:

1. s

tate

men

ts o

f ob

ject

ives

for

eac

h of

the

ten

subj

ects

und

er a

sses

smen

t with

proc

edur

es f

or a

chie

ving

agr

eem

ent

amon

g sp

ecia

lists

, edu

cato

rs, a

ndre

pres

enta

tives

of

the

lay

publ

ic2.

met

hods

and

gui

delin

es f

or d

evel

opin

gcr

iteri

on-r

efer

ence

d ex

erci

ses

tom

easu

re th

e ob

ject

ives

3. a

sam

plin

g de

sign

and

adm

inis

trat

ive

proc

edur

es f

or im

plem

entin

g it

4. a

sel

ectio

n of

sct

ual c

rite

rion

-re

fere

nced

exe

rcis

es u

sed

in e

arlie

ras

sess

men

ts5.

con

sulta

tion

serv

ices

.C

onse

quen

tly, 1

9 st

ates

are

usi

ngso

me

phas

eof

the

natio

nal a

sses

smen

t mod

el, m

etho

ds,

orm

ater

ials

.A

ppro

xim

etel

y 24

of

the

stat

epr

ogra

ms

uti-

lize

gove

rnm

ent f

unds

as

a m

ajor

sou

rce

of r

ev-

enue

. Thi

s is

an

indi

catio

n of

stim

ulat

ion

toas

sess

pro

vide

d by

Titl

e II

I of

the

Ele

men

tary

and

Seco

ndar

y E

duca

tion

Act

and

oth

er f

ed-

eral

pro

gram

s.T

he th

ird

prog

enito

r, a

ccou

ntab

ility

, has

popu

lar

appe

al a

nd d

eriv

es f

rom

the

abili

ty to

com

pare

res

ults

. It i

s vi

ewed

as

a m

eans

of

nar-

row

ing

the

disc

repa

ncy

betw

een

wha

t sch

ools

prof

ess

to te

ach

and

wha

t stu

dent

s ac

tual

lyle

arn. The

pro

gram

em

phas

is in

17

stat

es is

on

col-

lect

ing

info

rmat

ion

for

deci

sion

mak

ing

at th

est

ate

leve

l. In

11

stat

es, i

t is

on c

olle

ctin

g in

-fo

rmat

ion

for

deci

sion

mak

ing

at th

e lo

cal l

evel

.In

the

24 s

tate

s an

d te

rrito

ries

with

em

ergi

ngpr

ogra

ms,

pro

gram

sal

ienc

y ha

d no

t bee

n de

-te

rmin

ed a

t the

tim

e of

the

ET

S su

rvey

. Som

est

ates

are

acc

umul

atin

g da

ta f

or s

tate

-lev

elde

cisi

on m

akin

g an

d, a

t the

sam

e tim

e,pr

e-pa

ring

rep

orts

kg

diss

emin

atio

n to

loca

l sch

ool

dist

rict

s, h

opin

g th

e da

ta w

ill b

e us

eful

for

pro-

gram

impr

ovem

ent.

Ass

essm

ent i

s m

anda

ted

by s

tate

legi

slat

ures

in 1

6 st

ates

. The

bas

ic r

easo

ns le

gisl

ativ

e bo

dies

dem

and

asse

ssm

ent p

rogr

ams

are:

The

legi

slat

ure

is d

isen

chan

ted

with

repo

rts

from

Cie

sta

te e

duca

tiona

lag

ency

, bec

ause

the

curr

ent

achi

evem

ent o

f sc

hool

s is

unk

now

n or

poor

ly d

efin

ed.

The

legi

slat

ors

and

citiz

ens

are

seek

ing

to im

prov

e th

e sc

hool

s.Im

prov

ed m

anag

emen

t of

educ

atio

nal

reso

urce

s is

nec

essa

ry.

Ass

essm

ent r

esul

ts a

re r

epor

ted

dire

ctly

to th

ele

gisl

atur

es in

the

16 s

tate

s.Se

vera

l sta

tes

repo

rt th

at p

rogr

am o

bjec

tives

are

bein

g m

et s

ucce

ssfu

lly, s

ome

repo

rt o

bjec

-tiv

es a

re b

eing

met

to s

ome

exte

nt, a

nd th

em

a-jo

rity

rep

ort i

t is

too

earl

y to

det

erm

ine

the

exte

nt to

whi

ch o

bjec

tives

are

bei

ng m

et. M

ajor

prob

lem

are

as id

entif

ied

with

in s

tate

asse

ss-

men

t pro

gram

s ar

e:in

suff

icie

nt f

inan

cial

res

ourc

esin

adeq

uate

sta

ffin

gin

suff

icie

ntly

info

rmed

sta

ffla

g in

dev

elop

men

t of

syst

emat

icus

esof

dat

ala

ck o

f ac

cept

ance

by

teac

hers

who

see

the

prog

ram

as

a th

reat

whi

ch p

rovi

des

no d

irec

t ben

efits

inad

equa

te d

isse

min

atio

nin

abili

ty to

ass

ist s

choo

l sys

tem

s in

the

use

of d

ata

mis

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

the

prog

ram

and

its p

urpo

ses

at a

ll le

vels

.So

me

prog

ram

s re

port

ed n

o m

ajor

pro

blem

s.H

owev

er, t

he d

iffi

culti

es e

xpre

ssed

by

man

y in

-di

cate

d th

at s

tate

wid

e as

sess

men

t is

ina

stat

eof

flu

x. T

he m

ajor

ity o

f th

e st

ares

rep

orte

d th

aton

e or

mor

e as

pect

s of

thei

r pr

ogra

ms

wou

ldlik

ely

chan

ge in

the

near

fut

ure

with

surv

ey in

-st

rum

ents

, are

as a

sses

sed,

and

use

of

prog

ram

data

bei

ng m

entio

ned

mos

t fre

quen

tly. P

ro-

gram

goa

ls, p

olic

ies,

and

adm

inis

trat

ion

wer

eci

ted

leas

t oft

en a

s pr

obab

lear

eas

of c

hang

e.E

duca

tiona

l lea

ders

at t

he s

tate

leve

l rec

ogni

zeth

e pr

oble

ms

and

are

seek

ing

thai

r re

solu

tion.

'

s "S

tate

Edu

catio

nal A

sses

smen

t Pro

gram

s: 1

973

Rev

isio

n,"

Cen

ter

for

Sta

tew

ide

Edu

catio

nal A

sses

s-m

ent N

ewsl

ette

r,V

ol. 2

, No.

2, D

ecem

ber

1973

.6Ib

id.,

pp. 3

-4.

Page 13: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

sele

cted

exem

plar

yst

atew

ide

asse

ssm

ent

prog

ram

s

Mic

higa

nIn

Mic

higa

n, th

est

ate

depa

rtm

ent o

f ed

u-ca

tion

initi

ated

a st

ate

asse

ssm

ent a

ct w

hich

was

legi

slat

ed in

196

9. T

his

act

requ

ired

the

depa

rtm

ent o

f ed

ucat

ion

tobe

gin

plan

ning

and

deve

lopi

ng a

sta

tepr

ogra

m f

or th

e pu

rpos

eof

con

duct

ing

a pe

riod

ic a

nd c

ompr

ehen

sive

asse

ssm

ent o

f ed

ucat

iona

lpr

ogre

ss. I

n 19

70,

addi

tiona

l leg

isla

tion

man

date

da

mor

e co

m-

preh

ensi

ve a

sses

smen

tpr

ogra

m f

or th

e st

ate.

It r

equi

red

a st

atew

ide

prog

ram

45;

ass

essm

ent

of e

duca

tiona

l pro

gres

s an

d re

med

ial a

ssis

tanc

ein

the

basi

c sk

ills

of r

eadi

ng, m

athe

mat

ics,

lan-

guag

e ar

ts, a

nd/o

r ot

her

gene

ral s

ubje

ctar

eas.

Acc

ordi

ng to

sem

inar

part

icip

ant P

hilip

Kea

rney

, the

sta

ff h

adpr

opos

ed to

con

duct

ath

ree-

year

pilo

t eff

ort.

How

ever

,w

ith th

e en

-

actm

ent e

f th

e 19

70 le

gisl

atio

n,w

ithin

six

mon

ths

norm

:efe

renc

ed te

sts

wer

e be

ing

uti-

lized

to a

sses

s in

the

area

s of

rea

ding

, mat

he-

mat

ics,

and

lang

uage

art

s. T

heda

ta c

olle

cted

crea

ted

seri

ous

tech

nica

l and

polit

ical

pro

blem

sw

hich

res

ulte

d in

nor

m-r

efer

ence

din

stru

men

tsbe

ing

disc

arde

d in

fav

or o

fob

ject

ive-

refe

renc

edba

tteri

es.

Thi

s ch

ange

in in

stru

men

tatio

nne

cess

itate

dth

e id

entif

icat

ion

and

utili

zatio

n of

sch

olar

s,te

ache

rs, a

nd c

itize

ns in

tran

slat

ing

the

com

-m

on g

oals

of

Mic

higa

n ed

ucat

ion

inth

e ba

sic

skill

s ar

eas

into

min

imal

expe

ctat

ions

or

mea

s-ur

able

obj

ectiv

es. T

hese

grou

ps e

stab

lishe

d th

ebe

st e

stim

ates

of

min

imum

com

pete

ncie

s st

u-de

nts

shou

ld a

chie

ve a

tsp

ecif

ic p

oint

s in

the

Page 14: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

educ

atio

nal p

roce

ss. O

nce

the

obje

ctiv

es w

ere

dete

rmin

ed, t

he s

tate

dep

artm

ent c

ontr

acte

dw

ith f

our

loca

l sch

ool d

istr

icts

to d

evel

opth

e ite

ms

and

asse

ssm

ent e

xerc

ises

. A te

stin

gag

ency

was

em

ploy

ed to

ass

ist i

n th

e de

velo

p-m

ent o

f th

e ba

ttery

.T

he m

ajor

pur

pose

s of

ass

essm

ent i

n M

ichi

-ge

.n a

re: to

pro

vide

the

stat

e w

;th in

form

atio

nne

eded

for

allo

catin

g st

ate

fund

s an

dpr

ofes

sion

al s

ervi

ces

in a

man

ner

best

calc

ulat

ei. t

o eq

ualiz

e ed

ucat

ion&

oppo

rtun

ities

so

stud

ents

can

ach

ieve

com

pete

nce

in b

asic

ski

llsto

pro

vide

sch

ool s

yste

ms

with

str

ong

ince

ntiv

es f

or in

trod

ucin

g ed

ucat

iona

lpr

ogra

ms

that

will

impr

ove

the

educ

atio

n of

stu

dent

s in

bas

ic s

kills

and

mod

el p

rogr

ams

and

rais

eac

hiev

emen

t lev

els

to d

evel

op a

sys

tem

for

edu

catio

nal

self

-ren

ewal

that

wou

ld c

ontin

uous

lyev

alua

te th

e pr

ogra

ms,

ther

eby

help

ing

each

sch

ool d

isco

ver

and

intr

oduc

epr

ogra

m c

hang

es d

esig

ned

to im

prov

eth

e qu

ality

of

educ

atio

n.

The

ass

essm

ent p

rogr

am in

Mic

higa

n, th

ere-

fore

, is

desi

gned

to p

rovi

de in

form

atio

n fo

r de

-ci

sion

mak

ing

at th

e st

ate,

dis

tric

t, an

d sc

hool

leve

ls. D

ata

is p

rese

ntly

bei

ng c

olle

cted

at t

hebe

ginn

ing

of g

rade

s fo

ur a

nd s

even

. Whe

n th

epr

ogra

m is

ful

ly im

plem

ente

d, d

ata

will

be

col-

lect

ed a

t fiv

e po

ints

alo

ng th

e ed

ucat

iona

l con

-tin

uum

at th

e be

ginn

ing

of g

rade

s on

e, f

our,

seve

n, a

nd te

n, a

nd d

urin

g th

e sp

ring

of

the

12th

year

. Ful

l im

plem

enta

tion

is ta

rget

ed f

or th

e

1976

-77

scho

ol y

ear.

The

Sta

te(

f M

ichi

gan

hall

also

ass

umed

lead

ersh

ip a

mon

g th

e st

ates

in e

xplo

ring

and

appl

ying

acc

ount

abili

ty p

roce

dure

s. A

s a

re-

actio

n to

the

vigo

rous

Mic

higa

n pr

ogrs

m, t

heM

ichi

gan

Edu

catio

n A

ssoc

iatio

n an

d th

e N

a-tio

nal E

dt.m

tion

Ass

ocia

tion

rece

ntly

sec

ured

the

serv

ices

of

thre

e re

sear

cher

s to

exa

min

e th

equ

ality

and

impl

icat

ions

of

that

lead

ersh

ip.

The

spe

cifi

c pu

rpos

e w

as to

ass

ess

the

educ

a-tio

nal s

ound

ness

and

util

ity f

or M

ichi

gan

ofth

e St

ate

Acc

ount

abili

ty S

yste

m w

ith p

artic

u-la

r em

phas

is o

n th

e as

sess

men

t com

pone

nt.

Thi

s ef

fort

cul

min

ated

in th

e re

leas

e of

a h

ighl

ycr

itica

l rep

ort i

n M

arch

197

4.T

he s

taff

of

the

Mic

higa

n D

epar

tmen

t of

Edu

catio

n re

spon

ded

to th

e st

udy

in a

det

aile

dre

ply.

Of

the

nine

rec

omm

enda

tions

mad

e by

the

rese

arch

ers,

six

rec

eive

d th

e fu

ll su

ppor

t of

the

staf

f an

d ap

prop

riat

e m

odif

icat

ions

wer

epr

omis

ed. T

here

was

pro

foun

d di

sagr

eem

ent

with

the

othe

r th

ree

reco

mm

enda

tions

and

the

staf

f ex

pres

sed

hope

that

fut

ure

disc

ussi

ons

will

reso

lve

the

diff

eren

ces

of o

pini

on.

Flor

ida

In F

lori

da, t

he s

tate

dep

artm

ent o

f ed

uca-

tion

initi

ated

sta

tew

ide

asse

ssm

ent l

egis

latio

nin

197

0. A

sta

tute

was

pas

sed

requ

irin

g de

vel-

opm

ent o

f ev

alua

tion

proc

edur

es d

esig

ned

toob

ject

ivel

y as

ses

educ

atio

nal p

rogr

ams

offe

red

by p

ublic

sch

ools

of

the

stat

e.T

he F

lori

da p

rogr

am u

tiliz

es c

rite

rion

-re

fere

nced

and

nor

m-r

efer

ence

d in

stru

men

ts.

As

in M

ichi

gan,

var

ious

sch

ool s

yste

ms

wer

ese

lect

ed f

or th

e de

velo

pmen

t of

perf

orm

ance

obje

ctiv

es, t

est ;

' em

s, a

nd a

sses

smen

t exe

rcis

es.

The

pla

n w

as ta

rget

ed f

or im

plem

enta

tion

inre

adin

g by

the

7371

-72

scho

ol y

ear,

in w

ritin

gan

d m

athe

mat

ics

by th

e 19

72-7

3 sc

hool

yea

r,an

d in

oth

er s

ubje

ct a

reas

by

1973

-74.

A r

an-

dom

sam

plin

g m

etho

d w

as u

tiliz

ed r

athe

r th

ante

stin

E; 0

very

stu

dent

.T

he in

form

atio

n co

llect

ed th

roug

h th

e as

-se

ssm

ent p

rogr

am is

util

ized

for

dec

isio

n m

ak-

ing

at th

e st

ate,

dis

tric

t, an

d sc

hool

leve

ls a

sw

ell a

s fo

r ed

ucat

iona

l acc

ount

abili

ty.

Sem

inar

par

ticip

ant,

Jam

es W

. Gut

hrie

,(w

ho a

ssis

ted

in d

evel

opin

g th

e pr

ogra

m)

be-

lieve

s Fl

orid

a is

the

only

sta

te w

hich

has

mad

ean

eff

ort t

o lin

k as

sess

men

t, ob

ject

ives

, and

acco

unta

bilit

y.T

he E

duca

tiona

l Acc

ount

abili

ty A

ct w

aspa

ssed

by

the

Flor

ida

legi

slat

ure

in 1

971.

It

prov

ides

for

impl

emen

tatio

n an

d fu

rthe

r de

vel-

opm

ent o

f as

sess

men

t pro

cedu

res

desi

gned

toas

sure

that

pro

gram

s le

ad to

the

atta

inm

ent o

fes

tabl

ishe

d ed

ucat

iona

l obj

ectiv

es, p

rovi

dein

form

atio

n fo

r ac

cura

te c

ut.

anal

ysis

, and

fur

-ni

sh d

ata

for

anal

ysis

of

the

diff

eren

tial e

ffec

-tiv

enes

s of

inst

ruct

iona

l pro

gram

s.T

he c

hief

com

plai

nts

abou

t the

Flo

rida

pro

-gr

am c

ome

from

sch

ool a

dmin

istr

ator

s w

hode

plor

e th

e "m

ount

ains

of

pape

rwor

k" c

on-

nect

ed w

ith th

e pr

ogra

m.

Cal

ifor

nia

In C

alif

orni

a, te

ache

rs a

nd a

dmin

istr

ator

sco

nsid

er th

at s

tate

's a

ccou

ntab

ility

reg

ulat

ions

"a p

aper

tige

r."

The

y in

dica

te th

e go

als

rang

efr

om th

e ob

viou

s to

the

bana

l, an

d m

any

teac

h-er

s tr

eat t

hem

ligh

tly. T

he o

nly

virt

ue m

en-

tione

d is

that

it s

timul

ates

teac

hers

to k

eep

talk

ing

and

thin

king

.

Page 15: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

educ

atio

nal

acco

unta

bilit

yin

his

toric

alpe

rspe

ctiv

e

The

mov

emen

t tow

ard

a co

ncep

t of

acco

unt-

abili

ty s

eem

ed to

gai

nim

petu

s in

the

sum

mer

of 1

968

whe

na

Com

mitt

ee f

or E

cono

mic

De-

velo

pmen

t rep

ort i

ssue

dan

indi

ctm

ent a

gain

stth

e pu

blic

sch

ools

The

repo

rt in

dica

ted

that

man

y sc

hool

s an

d sc

hool

dis

tric

ts, h

andi

capp

edby

out

mod

ed o

rgan

izat

ion

and

lack

of

rese

arch

and

deve

lopm

ent

mon

ey, w

ere

not p

rovi

ding

the

kind

of

educ

atio

n th

atpr

oduc

ed r

atio

nal,

resp

onsi

ble,

and

eff

ectiv

e ci

tizen

s.T

his

seri

ous

indi

ctm

ent s

tron

gly

sugg

este

da

maj

or r

ede-

velo

pmen

t of

man

agem

ent o

fth

e ed

ucat

iona

lsy

stem

.R

efer

ence

s to

edu

catio

nal a

ccou

ntab

ility

be-

gan

to a

ppea

r in

the

prof

essi

onal

lite

ratu

rein

1969

; how

ever

. the

rea

l foc

usof

atte

ntio

non

it as

a c

once

pt o

ccur

red

in19

70. T

his

conc

ept

seem

s to

hav

e gr

own

out o

f th

epa

ssag

e of

the

far-

reac

hing

Ele

men

tary

and

Seco

ndar

y E

duca

-tio

n A

ct o

f 19

63 w

hich

gave

the

publ

ic s

choo

lsa

new

man

date

. The

cav

eat

was

not

onl

y fo

req

ualit

y of

edu

catio

nal

oppo

rtun

ity, b

ut a

lso

for

equi

tabl

e re

sults

. Und

er th

isne

w p

resc

rip-

tion,

sch

ools

wer

e ex

pect

edto

giv

e ev

ery

stu-

dent

bas

ic c

ompe

tenc

yre

gard

less

of

abili

ty,

inte

rest

, bac

kgro

und,

hom

e,or

fam

ily in

com

e.W

hen

Leo

n 1,

,.iss

inge

r, th

e"f

athe

r" o

f th

eac

coun

tabi

lity

mov

emen

t ',th

enan

Ass

ocia

teC

omm

issi

oner

in th

e U

.S. O

ffic

eof

Edu

catio

n)be

gan

to u

se th

e te

rm a

ccou

ntab

ility

in 1

968,

he w

as p

ropo

sing

a m

etho

d of

ens

urin

g th

ree

basi

c ri

ghts

in e

duca

tion:

1. th

e st

uden

t's r

ight

to b

eta

ught

wha

the

nee

ds to

kno

w in

ord

erto

be

apr

oduc

tive

and

satis

fied

mem

ber

ofso

ciet

y

2. th

e ta

xpay

er's

rig

ht to

be

info

rmed

of

the

educ

atio

nal r

esul

tspr

oduc

ed b

ysp

ecif

ic e

xpen

ditu

res

3. th

e sc

hool

's r

ight

to d

raw

on a

llre

sour

ces

of s

ocie

ty in

stea

d of

bei

ngre

stri

cted

to th

e ov

erbu

rden

edre

sour

ces

of e

duca

tors

.T

he m

etho

d L

essi

nger

cham

pion

ed f

orac

hiev

ing

the

goal

of

guar

ante

ed a

cqui

sitio

nof

bas

ic s

kills

was

an

inde

pend

ent a

udit

of e

d-uc

atio

nal r

esul

ts. T

his

here

ferr

ed to

as

the

proc

ess

cl "

educ

atio

nal e

ngin

eeri

ng."

At

that

1;i

Page 16: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

poin

t, di

scus

sion

s of

acc

ount

abili

ty in

edu

ca-

tiona

l cir

cles

shi

fted

to c

onsi

dera

tion

of p

er-

form

ance

con

trac

ting,

ext

erna

l aud

its, p

rogr

ampl

anni

ng, b

udge

ting

syst

ems,

and

vou

cher

plan

s. T

here

fore

, acc

ount

abili

tyw

hich

was

to b

e ac

hiev

ed b

y th

ose

met

hods

beca

me

seco

ndar

y. T

he p

rim

ary

focu

s w

as o

n th

em

etho

ds th

emse

lves

rat

her

than

on

educ

atio

nal

outc

omes

. As

a re

sult,

the

conc

ept o

f ac

coun

t-ab

ility

has

bee

n in

terp

rete

d in

man

y di

ffer

ent

and

conf

usin

g w

ays.

How

ever

, a n

umbe

r of

mis

conc

eptio

ns a

re

grad

ually

bei

ng e

limin

ated

and

som

e de

gree

of c

onse

nsus

see

ms

to b

e em

ergi

ng. P

erha

ps a

cont

ribu

tor

to th

is is

the

real

izat

ion

by e

duca

-to

rs th

at a

ccou

ntab

ility

impl

ies

a sp

ecif

ic k

ind

of r

espo

nsib

ility

a re

spon

sibi

lity

to s

ome-

one

for

som

ethi

ng. T

he f

act t

hat t

here

are

cons

eque

nces

bri

ngs

the

aspe

ct o

f be

ing

acco

unta

ble.

Alth

ough

the

!Res

ent m

ovem

ent i

s bu

t afe

w y

ears

old

, the

onl

y th

ing

that

is r

elat

ivel

yne

w a

bout

the

conc

ept o

f ac

coun

tabi

lity

is it

sap

plic

atio

n to

the

outc

omes

of

the

educ

atio

nal

proc

ess.

S(h

ool o

ffic

ials

hav

e al

way

sbe

en a

c-co

unta

ble

to ta

xpay

ers

for

the

prop

er r

ecei

ptan

d di

sbur

sem

ent o

f fu

nds,

to p

aren

ts f

or th

esa

fety

and

cus

todi

al c

are

of s

tude

nts,

to c

olle

geof

fici

als

for

the

qual

ity o

f co

llege

pre

para

tory

prog

ram

s, a

nd to

acc

redi

tatio

n an

dpr

ofes

sion

alas

soci

atio

ns f

or a

var

iety

of

inpu

t sta

ndar

ds.

The

neg

ativ

e co

nseq

uenc

es in

clud

e di

scha

rge

from

a p

ositi

on, c

rim

inal

indi

ctm

ent,

and

loss

of a

ccre

dita

tion.

The

ben

efits

incl

ude

cont

in-

ued

supp

ort,

incr

ease

d tr

ust b

y cl

ient

s an

dpa

tron

s, a

nd c

redi

bilit

y.

12

4,

Page 17: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

curr

ent

stat

us o

fuc

atio

nal

acco

unta

bilit

y

Dur

ing

the

Atla

nta

sem

inar

,L

essi

nger

as-

sert

ed th

at, w

hen

he a

ttem

pted

to d

o a

bibl

iog-

raph

y on

:icc

ount

abili

ty in

educ

atio

n so

me

year

s ag

o, h

e fo

und

very

few

ref

eren

ces.

Tod

ay,

ther

e ar

e m

ore

than

4,0

00bo

oks

and

artic

les

rela

tive

to th

e su

bjec

t; bu

t the

yon

ly a

dd to

the

conf

usio

n by

off

erin

ga

wid

e va

riet

y of

defi

nitie

ns. T

he c

onfe

rees

, how

ever

,se

emed

to a

gree

ther

e is

a w

idel

y ac

cept

edco

re o

fm

eani

ng a

scri

bed

to th

eco

ncep

t. T

he b

asic

idea

it c

onve

ys is

that

sch

ool

syst

ems,

sch

ools

,an

d th

e ed

ucat

ors

who

oper

ate

them

, sho

uld

be h

eld

resp

onsi

ble

for

educ

atio

nal

outc

omes

for

wha

t chi

ldre

n le

arn.

The

conc

ept n

ot o

nly

incl

udes

res

pons

ibili

ty f

orpe

rfor

man

ce in

achi

evin

g go

als

and

obje

ctiv

es, b

utal

so f

or s

e-le

ctin

g ap

prop

riat

e or

rel

evan

t goa

ls.

In s

pite

of

the

atte

ndan

tco

ntro

vers

y, a

c-co

unta

bilit

y ap

pear

s to

be

aliv

ean

d w

ell i

nA

mer

ican

edu

catio

n. B

y th

e fa

ll of

1972

, ac-

coun

tabi

lity

legi

slat

ion

had

been

intr

oduc

edin

29

stat

es, e

nact

ed in

23,

and

at le

ast 1

0 ot

her

stat

es f

ollo

wed

in 1

973.

So

with

the

cond

ition

sth

at le

d to

the

birt

h of

the

conc

ept c

ontin

uing

to p

rolif

erat

e, th

e pr

ospe

cts

for

an e

ven

mor

epr

ecoc

ious

gro

wth

see

m in

evita

ble.

The

con

fere

nce

part

icip

ants

agre

ed th

at a

c-co

unta

bilit

y an

d as

sess

men

tar

e no

t syn

ony-

mou

s ev

en th

ough

som

e fo

rm o

fas

:,.es

smen

t is

a ne

cess

ary

aspe

ct o

f ac

coun

tabi

lity.

The

yal

so

agre

ed th

at a

ccou

ntab

ility

is n

ot li

mite

d to

scho

ol b

oard

s, a

dmin

istr

ator

s,te

ache

rs, s

tu-

dent

s, o

r an

y ot

her

spec

ific

grou

p. N

or is

ac-

coun

tabi

lity

to b

e co

nfus

edw

ith m

etho

dspr

esum

ed to

be

usef

ul in

carr

ying

it o

ut s

uch

as p

erfo

rman

ce c

ontr

actin

g, s

yste

man

alys

is,

prog

ram

pla

nnin

g, b

udge

ting

syst

ems,

or m

an-

agem

ent b

y ob

ject

ives

.T

he m

ovem

ent h

as, h

owev

er,

forc

ed a

nad

ded

resp

onsi

bilit

yon

the

scho

ols

a re

-sp

onsi

bilit

y fo

r st

ipul

ated

outc

omes

, a q

ualit

yas

sura

nce

proc

ess,

a ty

pe o

f ex

tern

alre

view

toas

cert

ain

succ

ess

or f

ailu

re,

and

a sy

stem

for

publ

icly

rep

ortin

g th

e ac

tual

outc

omes

in r

e-la

tion

to e

xpen

ditu

res.

tys

ofac

coun

tabi

lity

The

con

fere

es a

gree

d th

atth

e to

tal c

once

ptof

edu

catio

nal a

ccou

ntai

:ility

is th

ree-

dim

ensi

onal

. Per

haps

, the

delin

eatio

n w

hich

follo

ws

will

ans

wer

the

ofte

nas

ked

ques

tions

,W

ho is

acc

ount

able

to w

hom

? an

d W

hat

are

they

acc

ount

able

for

?

SySt

ern

acco

unta

bilit

y is

a br

oad

conc

ept a

pplie

d to

sch

ool d

istr

icts

. It

invo

lves

the

degr

ee to

whi

ch th

eypr

ovid

e pr

omis

edre

sour

ces.

Sch

ool

syst

ems,

then

, are

acc

ount

able

to th

epu

blic

for

dev

elop

ing

appr

opri

ate

goal

san

d ob

ject

ives

in r

elat

ion

tost

ate

goal

san

d ne

eds

and

expe

ctat

ions

of

loca

lco

mm

uniti

es; f

or e

nsur

ing

the

scho

ols

are

staf

fed

by c

ompe

tent

per

sonn

el; f

orco

ntin

ually

ass

essi

ng th

e ac

hiev

emen

tof

stu

dent

s; a

nd f

or d

isse

min

atin

gth

ere

sults

and

ana

lyse

s to

sch

ool

pers

onne

l, pa

rent

s, a

nd c

itize

nsth

roug

h an

inde

pend

ent a

ndob

ject

ive

met

hod.

Prof

essi

onal

acc

ount

abili

tyre

fers

tosc

hool

adm

inis

trat

ors

and

teac

hers

at

the

build

ing

leve

l. It

invo

lves

know

ledg

e an

d us

e of

thos

eat

titud

es,

skill

s, a

nd te

chni

ques

rev

eale

dth

roug

hre

sear

ch o

r an

alys

is o

f th

est

ate

of th

ear

t to

be r

elia

ble

in p

rodu

cing

des

ired

outc

omes

. Spe

cifi

cally

, bui

ldin

gad

min

istr

ator

s ar

e ac

coun

tabl

efo

rde

velo

pmen

t and

sel

ectio

nof

appr

opri

ate

inst

ruct

iona

lpr

ogra

ms

for

achi

evin

g st

ated

obj

ectiv

es.

Tea

cher

sar

e sp

ecif

ical

ly a

ccou

ntab

le f

orut

ilizi

ng in

stru

ctio

nal a

ppro

ache

sth

atw

ill p

rodu

ce p

rogr

amou

tcom

esco

nsis

tent

with

pre

sele

cted

obje

ctiv

esat

an

appr

opri

ate

leve

l of

perf

orm

ance

for

the

inst

ruct

iona

lpr

ogra

m.

Perf

orm

ance

acc

ount

abili

ty is

conc

erne

d w

ith th

e ef

fect

iven

ess

ofpr

ogra

ms

and

met

hods

in a

chie

ving

Page 18: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

desi

red

outc

omes

The

se p

rogr

ams

and

met

hods

mus

t mee

t the

sta

ted

obje

ctiv

es o

r th

ey a

re r

edes

igne

d an

dim

plem

ente

d un

til th

ey d

o.

The

term

edu

catio

nal a

ccou

ntab

ility

Las

freq

uent

ly b

een

equa

ted

with

the

type

of

en-

gine

erin

g pr

oces

s us

ed in

indu

stri

al p

rodu

c-tio

n. T

he a

nalo

gy is

onl

y us

eful

to a

poi

nt.

Bey

ond

that

, it b

ecom

es m

isle

adin

g to

the

ex-

tent

that

eff

orts

to d

evel

op o

bjec

tive

crite

ria

of p

rofe

ssio

nal a

ccou

ntab

ility

can

be

unde

r-m

ined

. Gra

nted

, the

re is

a c

erta

in a

mou

nt o

fqu

ality

con

trol

(or

inte

rnal

eva

luat

ion)

and

som

e qu

ality

ass

.ran

ce in

volv

ed in

bot

h pr

oc-

esse

s. B

oth

invo

lve

com

plia

nce

with

stan

dard

sor

law

s an

d el

emen

ts o

fef

fici

ency

and

eff

ectiv

e-ne

ss. B

ut, i

n in

dust

rial

pro

duct

ion,

onc

e a

qual

ity it

em is

man

ufac

ture

d, r

epea

ting

the

exac

t pro

cess

will

con

tinue

to p

rodu

ce it

ems

of

like

qual

ity. S

uch

is n

ot th

e ca

se in

edu

catio

n.It

mus

t be

kept

in m

ind

that

edu

catio

n is

aso

cial

pro

cess

in w

hich

hum

an b

eing

s ar

e co

n-tin

ually

inte

ract

ing

in w

ays

that

can

nei

ther

be m

easu

red

nor

pred

icte

d. "

... E

duca

tion

does

not

dea

l with

iner

t raw

rri

teri

als,

but

with

livin

g m

inds

that

a--

inst

inct

ivel

y co

ncer

ned

firs

t with

pre

serv

ing

thei

r ow

n in

tegr

ity a

nt:

seco

nd w

ith r

ea,h

ing

a m

eani

ngfu

l acc

onun

o-da

tion

with

the

wor

ld a

roun

d th

em...

."7

14

Hen

ry S

. Dye

r. 'T

owar

d O

bjec

tive

Cri

teri

a of

Pro

-fe

ssio

nal A

ccou

ntab

ility

in th

e ;-

;cho

wls

of

New

Yor

kC

it-,'"

Phi

Del

ta K

appa

a, V

ol. 5

2, N

o. 4

, p. 2

11, D

e-ce

mbe

r 19

70.

Page 19: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

how

teac

hers

view

the

conc

ept o

fas

sess

men

tan

dac

coun

tabi

lity

Acc

ount

abili

ty is

a bu

zz w

ord

of in

crea

sing

velo

city

in te

ache

rs'

loun

ges

and

wor

kroo

ms

ofth

e na

tion'

s sc

hool

s. M

any

teac

hers

vie

w th

eco

ncep

t as

a m

erit

syst

em.

or a

wee

ding

sys

-te

m, a

imed

dir

ectly

at t

hem

.C

onse

quen

tly,

teac

hers

fee

l the

ques

t for

acc

ount

abili

ty w

illbe

com

e a

maj

or d

istr

actio

nfr

om th

e re

al b

usi-

ness

of

teac

hing

and

lear

ning

.Ju

stif

icat

ion

for

thes

ene

gativ

e vi

ews

ofas

-se

ssm

ent a

nd a

ccou

ntab

ility

isse

en in

the

1970

-71

Iow

a ca

se in

whi

cha

scho

ol d

istr

ict r

e-fu

sed

to r

enew

the

cont

ract

of

a te

ache

r w

hoha

d be

en te

achi

ng th

ere

sinc

e i9

60. T

here

a-so

n sp

ecif

ied

was

that

her

stu

d,,n

ts'

scor

es o

nth

e Io

wa

Tes

t of

Bas

icSk

ills

and

the

Iow

a T

est

of E

duca

tiona

l Dev

elop

men

tw

ere

too

low

. The

Supr

eme

Cou

rt d

eclin

edto

rev

iew

the

deci

sion

and

left

sta

ndin

ga

Cou

rt o

f A

ppea

ls d

ecis

ion

that

eva

luat

ing

a te

ache

r on

the

basi

s of

her

stud

ents

' tes

tsc

ol-e

s is

a r

easo

nabl

e ex

erci

se o

fsc

hool

boa

rd a

utho

rity

. The

Supr

eme

Cou

rt's

deci

sion

in th

isca

se c

ould

hav

e co

nsid

erab

le in

-fl

uenc

e on

fut

ure

attit

udes

of

teac

hers

tow

ard

educ

atio

nal a

sses

smen

t and

acco

unta

bilit

y.T

he f

ollo

win

g ite

ms

repr

esen

t som

e of

the

conc

erns

exp

ress

ed b

y te

ache

rs a

ndth

eir

orga

niza

tions

:

Pape

rwor

k an

d re

cord

-kee

ping

requ

irem

ents

of

acco

unta

bilit

y w

illre

sult

in b

usyw

ork

and

decr

ease

avai

labl

e in

stru

ctio

nal t

ime.

Perf

orm

ance

con

trac

ting

so f

ar h

asbe

en a

fai

lure

and

has

dam

aged

the

repu

tatio

n of

acc

ount

abili

ty.

A p

ublic

clim

ate

in w

hich

sou

nded

ucat

ion

is a

ll bu

t im

poss

ible

will

plac

e m

ore

of s

ocie

ty's

fai

lure

sat

the

educ

ator

's d

oors

tep

failu

res

with

whi

ch e

duca

tors

will

be

unab

leto

cop

e.M

any

impo

rtan

t goa

ls o

f ed

ucat

ion

cann

ot b

e as

sess

ed u

ntil

stud

ents

hav

egr

adua

ted.

By

emph

asiz

ing

obje

ctiv

em

easu

rem

ent,

atte

ntio

n w

ill o

nly

befo

cuse

d on

thos

e le

arni

ngsk

ills

whi

chca

n be

eas

ily m

easu

red.

Em

phas

is o

n m

easu

rabl

epe

rfor

man

cew

ill te

nd to

stif

le a

nd r

etar

din

nova

tive

teac

hing

eff

orts

whi

char

e ne

cess

ary

toke

ep p

ace

with

the

rapi

dly

chan

ging

need

s of

soc

iety

.T

he a

ttem

pt to

hol

d di

ffer

ent

educ

atio

nal l

evel

s ac

coun

tabl

e w

illcr

eate

con

flic

t whe

re h

arm

ony

ises

sent

ial.

In F

ebru

ary

197:

3. th

ebo

ard

of d

irec

tors

of

the

Nat

iona

l Edu

catio

nA

ssoc

iatio

n un

ani-

mou

sly

appr

oved

a de

clar

atio

n on

edu

catio

nal

acco

unta

bilit

y an

d au

thor

ized

four

imm

edia

test

eps

to f

ight

ove

rsim

plif

ied

appr

oach

es to

ac-

coun

tabi

lity.

The

ste

psar

e:

1. a

sta

te-b

y-st

ate

anal

ysis

of

"har

dda

ta-

to id

entif

yW

her

e th

e da

nger

sno

w e

xist

coor

dina

tion

amon

g N

EA

stat

e an

dlo

cal a

ffili

ates

to d

evel

opan

act

ion

plan

at a

ll le

vels

with

posi

tive

impl

icat

ions

that

will

pla

cete

ache

rsin

the

lead

ersh

ip r

ule

3. in

vest

igat

ion

ofpo

ssib

ilitie

s fo

rin

itiat

ing

lega

l act

ion

chal

leng

ing

mis

guid

ed a

ccou

ntab

ility

rul

es4.

mod

ific

atio

n of

nat

iona

lan

d st

ate

legi

slat

ion

lead

ing

to p

ositi

vepr

ogra

ms

of a

ccou

ntab

ility

for

qual

ity e

duca

tion.

NE

A P

resi

dent

Cat

heri

neB

arre

tt pr

aise

dth

e bo

crd

actio

nas

".

. mos

t sig

nifi

cant

inte

rms

of th

e re

alco

ncer

ns o

f ou

r m

embe

rshi

p."

She

furt

her

note

d "C

ompu

lsio

nab

out a

ccou

nt-

abili

ty in

edu

catio

n ha

sre

ache

d cr

isis

prop

or-

tions

in a

t lea

st 3

0st

ates

and

is s

prea

ding

fast

to a

ll 50

."T

each

ers

natio

nwid

e w

illre

spon

d ha

ppily

to a

ccou

ntab

ility

whe

nth

ey b

ecom

e au

ton-

omou

s en

ough

to h

ave

part

insh

apin

g st

and-

ards

for

cer

tific

atio

nan

d de

term

inin

gcu

rric

ulum

. We

will

be

acco

unta

ble

whe

nou

rkn

owle

dge

abou

t the

nee

dsof

you

ngst

ers

insc

hool

bec

omes

a pa

rt o

f pl

anni

ng th

e to

tal

educ

atio

nal s

truc

ture

. Unt

ilth

en, g

over

n-m

enta

l bod

ies

and

adm

inis

trat

ors

will

hav

eto

bear

the

resp

onsi

bilit

y.St

uden

ts a

nd te

ache

rsw

ill n

o lo

nger

be

vict

imiz

edby

a s

impl

istic

appr

oach

to a

con

cept

that

has

caug

ht th

epu

blic

fan

g."

NE

A R

epor

ter,

Vol

. 12,

No.

2,

Mar

ch 1

973,

p. 1

.

15

Page 20: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

_..1

1111

11

how

the

conf

ers

view

the

conc

ept o

fas

sess

men

tan

d ac

coun

tabi

lity

16

The

con

fere

es a

gree

d th

at a

ver

y po

sitiv

eou

tgro

wth

of

the

conc

ept i

s th

e ne

cess

ity to

defi

ne e

duca

tion

its d

irec

tion,

app

roac

hes,

and

outc

omes

. The

y co

nced

ed it

cou

ld p

oten

-tia

lly c

hang

e m

anag

eria

l opi

nion

s re

gard

ing

how

org

aniz

atio

ns o

pera

te. T

he g

roup

als

o as

-se

rted

that

, in

Flor

ida

and

othe

r st

ates

whe

reva

riou

s st

rate

gies

of

acco

unta

bilit

y ar

e be

ing

succ

essf

ully

impl

emen

ted,

a v

ery

posi

tive

type

man

ager

ial s

yste

m w

as in

ope

ratio

n pr

ior

toco

nsid

erat

ion

of a

ny to

ols

or s

trat

egie

s of

ac-

coun

tabi

lity.

In

inst

ance

s w

here

acc

ount

abili

tyis

bei

ng u

sed

as a

n an

ti-co

llect

ive

barg

aini

ngor

ant

i-te

nure

dev

ice,

it is

unde

rsta

ndab

le th

atth

e co

ncep

t is

view

ed w

ith s

uspi

cion

. Thi

sno

tion

was

exp

ress

ed b

y C

ongr

essm

an J

ohn

Bra

dem

as w

hen

he d

escr

ibed

acc

ount

abili

ty a

sa

way

of

poin

ting

apu

nish

ing

fing

er a

t som

e-on

e, p

artic

ular

ly a

t tea

cher

s.T

he c

onfe

rees

sur

mis

ed th

at th

e or

gani

zed

teac

hing

pro

fess

ion

wou

ld r

espo

nd p

ositi

vely

to th

e co

ncep

t if

it m

ade

the

clas

sroo

mte

ache

r's r

espo

nsib

ility

mor

e ex

rlic

itra

ther

than

em

phas

ized

thei

r fa

ilure

s.

As

a re

sult

of th

e co

nfer

ence

del

iber

atio

ns,

the

conf

eree

s co

nclu

ded:

Bec

ause

of

the

man

y va

riab

les

that

affe

ct th

e ou

tcom

es o

f st

uden

ts'

educ

atio

nal e

xper

ienc

es, t

he p

robl

ems

of s

epar

atin

g th

e ef

fect

s of

dif

fere

ntte

ache

rs a

nd a

dniin

istr

at"r

s, in

flue

nce

of p

aren

ts, a

nd o

ut-o

f-sc

noui

expe

rien

ces

nega

te h

oldi

ng in

divi

dual

teac

hers

tota

lly a

ccou

ntab

le f

orst

uden

t fai

lure

s.

Tea

cher

s' c

once

rns

gro

A th

eir

defi

nitio

ns o

f ac

coun

tal-

wity

whi

chpa

rtly

res

ult f

rom

the

man

ner

in w

hich

they

hol

d st

uden

ts a

ccou

ntab

le.

Acc

ount

abili

ty c

an p

oten

tially

for

cecl

oser

rel

atio

nshi

ps a

rnen

g al

l lev

els

ofth

e ed

ucat

iona

l ent

erpr

ise

as th

eyfo

cus

on c

omm

on g

oals

of

stud

ent

lear

ning

.A

ccou

ntab

ility

can

pro

mot

e th

eim

port

ance

of

pare

nts

and

com

mun

ities

os a

n in

tegr

al p

art o

f th

eto

tal

educ

atio

nal e

ffor

t ina

smuc

h as

sele

ctio

n of

lear

ner

obje

ctiv

es a

ndes

tabl

ishm

ent o

f pr

iori

ties

are

emph

asiz

ed.

Acc

ount

abili

ty c

an s

timul

ate

the

sear

chfo

r m

ore

effi

cien

t and

eff

ectiv

e w

ays

ofpr

oduc

ing

lear

ning

and

an

obje

ctiv

ere

exam

inat

ion

of e

duca

tiona

l pra

ctic

esan

d pr

oced

ures

.A

ccou

ntab

ility

can

con

ceiv

ably

impr

ove

com

mun

icat

ion

betw

een

scho

ols

and

com

mun

ities

as

a re

sult

of s

choo

l boa

rds

and

educ

ator

s co

rrob

orat

ing

to c

lari

fypr

oces

s an

d pe

rfcr

man

c6(.

4ije

ctiv

es a

ndre

late

eff

orts

in te

rms

of r

esul

ts.

Acc

ount

abili

ty c

an p

rom

ote

Parl

yd

is.g

n4se

s of

lear

ning

def

icie

ncie

s in

the

clas

srou

nt a

nd p

rovi

de a

bas

is f

orin

divi

dual

izin

g in

stru

ctio

n.T

each

er in

-ser

vice

pro

gram

s de

sign

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Page 21: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

Inst

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Page 22: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

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Page 23: DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 · 2013-10-24 · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 670 ED 106 508 TITLE Assessment 6 Accountability in Education: Threat or. Promise? An Occasional Paper. INSTITUTION

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