Dive Brief:
- To meet new federal accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act, California will replace its Academic Performance Index and instate new student performance evaluations as part of a new overall accountability system to be implemented in the fall of 2017.
- California's State Board of Education will select metrics with which to weigh student performance, and are considering five particular benchmarks: test scores on Common Core-aligned exams in math and English, progress of ELL learners toward proficiency, high school graduation rates, student progress over time based on third and eighth grade test scores, and suspension rates.
- Among the metrics considered that didn't end up on the final list were chronic student absenteeism, science testing and college and career readiness.
Dive Insight:
Because states will now have increased flexibility under ESSA to create and implement federal accountability standards and school performance metrics, a wide variety of strategies are likely to be developed. Some experts have warned states to move slowly instead of rushing toward quick accountability solutions, since the actual ESSA guidance still hasn't been written or released. ESSA doesn't go into effect until the 2017-18 school year. Some guidance is already solidified, however. Under ESSA, one such requirement mandates that every state must identify and track their lowest-performing 5% of schools.
Identifying those schools poses challenges. Kentucky and Florida are among states considering bills that might not meet accountability standards under ESSA. In Florida, for example, Senate Bill 1360 calls for the ACT test to be used to test students in grades 3-8 starting in the 2016-17 school year. The state would give districts three options: the ACT, PSAT or NMSQT, or SAT. Under ESSA, a single test is supposed to be used statewide.
Currently, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire allow the SAT, while Arkansas, Wisconsin and Wyoming allow the ACT for federal accountability. Assessment experts have questioned the use of both tests for accountability because they are supposed to predict a student's college success, not measure their college readiness. Some have highlighted a growing national preference for formative assessments as opposed to summative as a trend, and critics warn that interim results used for accountability could be inaccurate since interim tests aren’t designed to give summative results.
Because ESSA also removes federal mandates around teacher qualifications and evaluations, it's not yet clear what states will do in order to determine how well teachers are serving students. New Mexico has already decided, for now, to stick with existing federal mandates.