60.056 - A Role for Quality Improvement in U.S. Educational Accountability?

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Despite robust criticisms, some form of accountability for education to safeguard school and teaching quality and equitable treatment of students is important for serving the public interest. The Race to the Top initiative and pending re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) raise questions about alternative models of accountability that might be more effective for generating these valued outcomes. The US test-based accountability model holds schools and teachers accountable for student outcomes with less attention to improving school and district internal processes and practices (e.g., school climate). In contrast, other countries’ accountability models typically include some kind of quality improvement system. In this symposium, scholars probe the nature of and roles for quality improvement in US educational accountability.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Division L - Section 5: Testing and Accountability

Chair

• Sharon F. Rallis, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Papers

• Educational Goods and Accountability - Helen F. Ladd, Duke University

• Accountability and Teacher Evaluation Systems - Drew H. Gitomer, Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway

• Beyond Academic Achievement: Measuring Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Competencies - Laura S. Hamilton, RAND Corporation; Brian Stecher, The RAND Corporation

• Accountability and School/District Quality - Katherine E. Ryan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign